One of the great things about Dabo Swinney and why he appeals so much to young players is his youth and energetic spirit. Swinney is 46 years old, so he’s still somewhat in touch with the younger generation. Plus, he played wide receiver at Alabama in the ’90s, so it’s not like he doesn’t remember what went on in locker rooms.
To that point, Swinney knows just how big of a part dancing plays in building team camaraderie around the locker room. He even likes to join in on the fun.
At various points over the past few years, Dabo has hit the Whip, the nae nae, does the dab, and even the running man when it comes to his dance moves.
Here his doing the Dab:
The Clemson Tigers players love seeing their coach dance.
“The players love it. We know after we get the W, we’re going to come in the locker room and celebrate. It’s hard to get a win at this level. Regardless of who the opponent is, we’re going to celebrate regardless. He does a great job of coming into the locker room, pumping the team up and getting everyone excited. That’s what it’s about. We put in so much work and time and effort to get the win, why not celebrate?” Clemson QB Deshaun Watson said in September.
Watson did also joke about Dabo Swinney’s dancing ability.
“We coached him up a little bit,” QB Deshaun Watson said.
Watson also gave his coach about a 5 on a scale of 1-10 in terms of dancing ability.
“It’s hard to tell what he’s doing, he’s really off the wall,” Ben Boulware says. “It’s not nearly as accurate as it should be.”
“When he tries too hard it just looks bad,” Shaq Lawson says of Swinney’s dancing.
Even if some of his players cracked on him for his dancing, the bottom line is that Swinney is enjoying himself, and that spills over to his players. Don’t underestimate the power of the dance in terms of its influence on the Clemson program.
