Close to Home: ClemsonLIFE program brings unique perspective to Dabo Swinney, players

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CLEMSON – The sun is setting on another Clemson Wednesday practice at the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex

Practice has just wrapped up in the indoor facility as intense preparations for 4-0 Clemson’s battle with North Carolina continue. Amari Rodgers is putting in extra work, running from one sideline to the other. 

The offensive linemen are doing an extra set of drills, one where Sean Pollard is working on center-to-quarterback exchanges to make sure his snaps are pure and crisp. Trevor Lawrence is in a huddle with his fellow quarterbacks, a routine meeting as practice concludes.

Then, the huddle breaks and the long-haired Lawrence turns around. He is greeted by friends.

“Trevor! Trevor!” a chorus of students start shouting as he walks toward them, a bright smile running across all of their faces.

Those were the voices of students who are a part of ClemsonLIFE, a program at the University that focuses on postsecondary education for college students who have an intellectual disability. The group was hanging out with members of the team after practice on Wednesday night, which also just so happens to be “family night” at the complex.

Sure, the week of being bogged down by getting ready for the next opponent can be rough for a football player, especially after a long Wednesday practice. But for that next 30 minutes, you couldn’t tell if there was any exhaustion. Only excitement.

Lawrence stood and took pictures while meeting a ton of students. Some faces are familiar, others not so much. Chase Brice was ten feet away saying hello and giving out high-fives to everyone he passed. Tyler Davis shyly approached the group and signed a few footballs.

But the biggest crowd was around Dabo Swinney, who was right in the middle of everyone. We couldn’t tell who was having more fun: the head coach or the group of 40 surrounding him.

“It’s a blast. I love meeting the new students every year,” Swinney said. “It’s kind of sad, too, because you have the seniors and it’s just like your team. But it’s such a wonderful program and it’s awesome for our new people on the team every year to learn about ClemsonLIFE.”

Swinney has been an avid supporter of ClemsonLIFE ever since he first found out the program existed. They have this time in the fall where the students come and hang out at the end of practice and another gathering in the spring where the team puts on a county fair with games and plenty of hot dogs.

But Swinney’s time spent with people who have intellectual disabilities didn’t begin at Clemson. It has been rooted in the head coach’s foundation ever since he was a kid.

Growing up back in Alabama, Swinney spent a ton of time with a young lady named Sue Ann De Boer, who had Down syndrome. Swinney played football with her brother all throughout his childhood, including at Pelham High School where Swinney’s No. 81 is now retired.

The two grew close as Sue Ann and Swinney graduated one year apart from each other. When Swinney got to the University of Alabama and was a walk-on to the football team, he met then-head coach Gene Stallings’ son, John Mark, who also had Down syndrome.

John Mark opened Swinney’s eyes even more because of how much the coach’s son was included as a part of the team.

“Every day for seven years I am with him as a player and as a coach,” Swinney recalled of his time with John Mark. “Just watching how coach (Stallings) interacted with John Mark and how he just involved him in everything and just how John Mark was a part of our team. He knew everybody.”

There seems to be a direct correlation with what John Mark meant to Alabama football and what David Saville, the first student to go through ClemsonLIFE, means to Clemson football today.

Saville met Swinney in 2011 and told the head coach that he would be working for him as an equipment manager. So Swinney couldn’t say no and Saville quickly became a part of the culture that has grown tremendously under Swinney, living by one of Swinney’s quotes “the only disability in life is a bad attitude.”

If it weren’t for the Clemson LIFE program, who knows if Swinney and Saville would have ever made their connection?

Gene Stallings’ family played an instrumental part in the development of the RISE program at Alabama, an education program for children from birth to age 5 who were born with disabilities.

Dabo and Kathleen have had a similar impact on ClemsonLIFE, donating money to the program through their foundation so they can bring in as many students as possible. The Swinneys donated $50,000 on Wednesday night.

“Even though sometimes people may look different, learning is for everyone and we are all people

and we are all made in God’s image,” Swinney said. “So it’s great perspective, I think. Especially for these big, strong, fast athletes that sometimes can lose perspective. It’s great perspective to see such happy people that sometimes the world may look at and see, ‘oh, maybe they have a disability or something.’ They’re just a joy. Their attitude is amazing. Their love of life and they’re just so talented and smart.”

No student exemplified that more than Tanner Smith, a current sophomore in the program. He had this contagious smile and an energy you could feel 100 yards away that made you want to walk over and be introduced.

So that’s just what this writer did.

“It’s so nice to meet you!” Tanner said, giving out a couple of high-fives in the process. “I’m glad you are here.”

So were we. Pure joy.

John Mark Stallings and Sue Ann De Boer have since passed away, John Mark in August of 2008 and De Boer on Christmas Eve in 2014.

But they both were surely smiling down on Swinney as he locked arms with the 40 members of ClemsonLIFE and embarked on a Walk of Champions, just like the football team does on Saturdays before games. And of course, the dance circle that followed.

“It’s an unbelievable program that empowers and equips these young people to live on their own and be successful in life,” Swinney said.

This particular family night post-practice was about more than just football. It was a reminder of what Swinney was exposed to growing up in Alabama all those years ago. It was a reminder that we are all on the same team.

That’s why nights like these can hit so close to home.