PHOENIX — Dabo Swinney recently added a new piece of reading material to his bookshelf.
Swinney joked Monday he picked up a copy of Urban Meyer’s book Above the Line and Clemson’s head coach plans to make it a quick read.
“I’m trying to get that thing read by the end of the week,” Swinney joked. “I’m looking for any edge I can get so if y’all got the cliff notes, shoot them my way.”
Swinney and Meyer, of course, will square off Dec. 31 in the Fiesta Bowl as Ohio State and Clemson play for a shot to go after a national championship. The Tigers touched down here first in the late afternoon and Swinney said all of his players made the trip to Arizona.
During his brief press conference upon his team’s arrival, Swinney didn’t hide his affinity for Meyer or the Ohio State program.
“I think their brand speaks for themselves and they’ve earned that,” Swinney said. “I think percentage wise they’re the winningest team in the country since like 1950.”
“Their coaching staff is tremendous,” Swinney continued. “I know several of those guys and I’ve got a lot of respect for coach Meyer. He barely ever loses. We were joking back in Clemson that it’s like Knute Rockne and Urban Meyer as the two winningest coaches ever.”
The Buckeyes are scheduled to arrive in Phoenix later this evening. Then, it’s a week’s worth of media coverage before Ohio State and Clemson square off on New Year’s Eve in what figures to be a classic matchup.
Swinney has his team ready to go.
“They’re what everybody wants to be from a brand standpoint and some of the achievements that they’ve had,” Swinney said. “We’re very proud of what we’ve been able to do and the consistency especially in the last six-plus years, but we want to get to the top of the mountain and nobody gives you that.”
“You’ve got to go and earn it and you’ve got to beat the best and they certainly represent that.”
