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Dabo Swinney's extraordinary ability to lift a football program is known to everyone who even casually follows the sport.
But what about his gift, equally extraordinary, of lifting the spirits of those who are going through periods of struggle?
These to-date unpublicized gestures -- random acts of Dabo, if you will -- are very much worthy of being documented in a more official, complete form.
So Tigerillustrated.com reached out to a number of people who have shared their own behind-the-scenes stories with us.
ALSO SEE: LETTERS FROM DABO - Part 1 | LETTERS FROM DABO - Part 2 | LETTERS FROM DABO - Part 3 | LETTERS FROM DABO - Part 4 | LETTERS FROM DABO - Part 5 | LETTERS FROM DABO - Part 6 | LETTERS FROM DABO - Part 7 | LETTERS FROM DABO - Part 8 | LETTERS FROM DABO - Part 9
Here is Part 10
Steve Grant had always been an optimistic person.
The day was partly sunny, not partly cloudy. He'd regularly hang positive messages on his sons' mirrors when they were children, including: "The cross doesn't get too heavy."
The power of positivity might as well have been in another galaxy for Grant after he lost both his sons to drug overdoses over a five-year stretch between 2005 and 2010.
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There's no way to ease into this: For his oldest son Chris, a seven-year battle with addiction ended at age 21 when he died of a cocaine and methadone overdose. For his younger son Kelly, a rapid spiral in 2010 ended when he overdosed on heroin at age 24.
Steve was the one who found both of his sons. He also lost his wife of 25 years to divorce after their sons' problems drove them apart.
There was no silver lining anymore, no glasses that stood half-full. In the worst of his grief, Grant hurt so deeply that he believed there'd never be anything in his life but sadness and despair.
The turning point came less than two years later, at a sales conference. Grant, then a financial representative at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, found himself in a small cluster of people. Each was asked to stand and recite what he they wanted their legacy to be.
