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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
Here is Part 9
Dabo Swinney slipped into the back of Clemson Presbyterian Church just as the funeral was starting.
He was late by design. On this Monday afternoon in early November of 2011, the most famous face in Clemson didn't want to detract at all from the man everyone gathered to remember.
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The Tigers were nine days removed from their first loss of the season after an 8-0 start, a 31-17 primetime dismantling at Georgia Tech. They were five days from their last home game of the season, a visit from Wake Forest.
As the service was ending, Swinney got up to leave as quietly as he entered. Not because he was busy and had to get back to work on one of the busiest days of typical football weeks, but because he didn't want any of this to be about him.
An usher had noticed him and walked over to him as he was scurrying out.
"Dabo!" he said. "What are you doing here?"
The response: "Norville said I could come."
Norville Bridges Spearman made an indelible impression on William Christopher Swinney in a relationship that lasted a little over a month in the fall of 2011.
In late September, a few days after Clemson upended Auburn and a few days before the Tigers would take on Florida State, Swinney and Jeff Davis walked into Norville's home on Lake Hartwell in downtown Clemson.
Norville was on the back end of the death sentence that is Lou Gehrig's Disease. In August, he pressed his doctor on how much longer he had to live and his doctor guessed mid- to late-September but said it was hard to know.
Swinney had been through this general drill before. Some cases are so bleak that he walks in the door knowing he's going to be the one responsible for bringing optimism and laughter to the room.
This was going to be one of those cases. Or at least that's what Swinney thought as he and Davis walked to the door.
He was shocked to find that the uplifting spirt he was bringing was already present with Norville surrounded by several family members and nursing assistants.
