THE STORY OF DABO SWINNEY

For most of her life, Carol McIntosh told her three sons only bits and pieces of what she overcame as a child.

They knew she battled polio and scoliosis. They knew that the big scar down her back was permanent evidence of that fight.

But until six years ago, Dabo Swinney nor his two brothers had a full grasp of their mother's story. That's when she decided it was time to tell her children and grandchildren the full account.

What it was like to spend almost all of her childhood in a crippled children's hospital in Birmingham, an hour from home.

What it was like to live in a full body cast, and the terror that came when she felt the heat from a power saw that cut into the cast when it was time to be removed.

What it was like never knowing her father, who left the family when Carol was an infant and never came around for the two spinal-fusion surgeries, the grueling rehab, the years spent in bulky body braces, or anything.

What it was like not knowing her three siblings during her childhood because children under 16 were not allowed to visit the children's hospital.

What it was like to say goodbye to her mother on the only two visiting days of the week, when her mother would return home to work two jobs trying to support the family.

And what it was like to overcome it all, fueled by her faith, an almost astounding inner strength and a fundamental choice of optimism over pessimism even in the bleakest moments.

A belief that better days were ahead, even when she was told she'd never lead a normal life, never have kids.

"My mom was a fighter and a winner," Dabo says. "That was ingrained in her at birth. She is the toughest person I know."

Eleven years ago, after Dabo had taken over as interim coach, Tigerillustrated.com chronicled the story of his life and all that he overcame in high school and college as his father's bout with alcoholism turned the family upside-down.

The headline of that story was "Against all odds." Only upon hearing the full extent of his mother's story do we realize that his story in 2008 was only half the story.

Because while Dabo's life and coaching career have been defined by fighting and scrapping, his mother is the ultimate fighter and the ultimate scrapper.

Starting tomorrow, Tigerillustrated.com will begin a week-long series exploring some of the deeper layers of Swinney's leadership by listening to various voices who have witnessed the inner workings of it.

You'll hear from former Clemson Board of Trustees Chairman David Wilkins, who walked into Swinney's office during the tough times in 2010 with the goal of cheering up his coach and telling him the Board of Trustees had his back.

"I walked out of there ready to run through a brick wall," Wilkins recalled in an interview with Tigerillustrated.com this week. "As it turned out he ended up cheering me up instead."

You'll hear from Thomas Austin, whose shoulders Swinney rode on back in 2008 after a victory over South Carolina assured he'd won the job as the rain-soaked crowd chanted Dabo's name.

Austin, who worked in the football offices from 2015 to 2018, remembers Swinney telling his coaches in the summer of 2018 that this was the best team he'd ever seen. He remembers Swinney telling his players during the season: "You're the best team in the country; you just don't know it yet."

Over the past decade, so many great stories have been told about the extraordinary life and times of Dabo Swinney. But there is yet more to be told, plenty that you haven't heard.

You will hear from a group of well-connected people who will share their personal stories of how Swinney has transformed not just a football program, but also an entire athletic department, university and surrounding community.

In the spring of 2017, a few months after Swinney delivered the school its first national title since 1981, we gave the floor to various figures who helped us learn more about the man who had the audacity to envision such heights back when the extent of Clemson fans' dreams was merely 10-win seasons every now and then.

There are always more stories to tell, more people to listen to.

And if you're trying to understand how Dabo became who he is, there's no more fitting person to listen to than his mother. Seventy-two years ago, doctors gave her slim chances of surviving polio. And here she is.

Tomorrow, we start these stories by telling a long-overdue story. One that redefines our 2008 notion of against all odds.

She never said never. She never liked anyone telling her that she couldn't do something. She always had an optimistic attitude, even under the most dire circumstances imaginable.

Sound familiar?

"You want to know where my toughness comes from?" Dabo says now. "You want to know where my grit comes from? My will to achieve something better? It comes from the example my mother set for me my whole life."

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