Will Swinney

After five years on the football team at Clemson, Will Swinney joins the podcast to talk about adjusting to the real world. For now that entails pursuing his MBA and working as an intern for a Greenville real-estate firm.

Swinney has vivid memories of some of the key junctures over the last 15 years.

Including 2006, when his dad came home and told his family he was going to give up coaching (his sons talked him out of it).

Including 2007, when Nick Saban called offering his father a job and Will begged him not to take it.

Including that day in 2008 when Tommy Bowden was out and Dabo Swinney was in.

"The next day I walk into my fourth-grade class and everyone is staring at me," he said.

Including that day in January of 2011 when his father made changes to his staff and Will realized he had to say goodbye to some of his good friends.

Will has been with his father through it all, including on recruiting trips and on the sideline from 2009 to 2016 when he was responsible for keeping the "Touch Chart," which tabulated the touches for the team's best offensive playmakers and made sure they were getting the ball enough (it started in 2009 when Dabo was determined to give C.J. Spiller the ball as much as possible).

Will grew up closely following recruiting and all coverage and commentary on Clemson football, which meant he had to learn how to handle criticism and outright meanness on message boards.

Will says the angriest his father ever was with him was when he was in kindergarten and decided to dial 911.

"That was a pretty bad whooping," he said.

Will said his favorite season of all was 2021 when the Tigers won six straight games to reach 10 wins for the 11th consecutive season.