A couple years ago, Dabo Swinney decided to break with the decades-long tradition of a media golf outing to kick off the resumption of a season and normal gatherings with the people who cover his program.

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Instead of a long and hot day at The Reserve on Lake Keowee, Swinney changed things up by hosting a "media Olympics" gathering at the football facility in which he and his coaches combine with media for competition in putt putt, cornhole, bowling and other games that are a fixture of Dabo Land.

Personally we're cool with whatever format the coach desires; the important part is the ability to sit down and have some in-depth conversations with all the full-time coaches and not just the coordinators from whom we get insight from regularly through the year.

The foundation of college athletics itself is experiencing so much change that there are so many topics beyond the typical team-centric questions that will be asked. But there's no doubt some team-related items of considerable intrigue and curiosity.