Dabo Swinney talks relationship with Bill Belichick, Clemson-UNC matchup
The contract had been signed. The press conference had been held. Heck, UNC football had gone through its entire spring practice schedule.
But Clemson’s Dabo Swinney still had a few “pinch me” moments during the ACC’s annual spring meetings in Amelia Island, Florida this May.
“There was more than one occasion that I went, ‘Yep, that’s Bill Belichick right there’ in ACC head coaches meetings,” Swinney said. “It’s, like, the most 2025 thing ever.”
Belichick, 73, the second-winningest coach in NFL history and a six-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, is entering his first year as the Tar Heels’ football coach. His hire has generated national attention and major ticket sales.
Belichick’s presence at the ACC Kickoff preseason media event on Thursday also put Swinney, a two-time national champion and coach of the defending ACC champion Tigers, in the strange position of not being the biggest story of the day.
He didn’t mind one bit.
“It’s been great,” Swinney said. “How often would a coach get a chance to be with a coach like Bill Belichick? Most of the time, you’d have to be in the NFL. And then all of the sudden, he’s in your ACC coaches meetings?
“It’s provided me an opportunity to get to know him differently. Hours of meetings in May, and then casual chitchat opportunities like this, where you get a chance to see him, and now certainly get a chance to play him. I mean, it’s been really cool.”
Belichick also spoke highly of Swinney and Clemson on Thursday.
“We’re all learning from Dabo,” Belichick said. “That’s very nice of him to say that. ... Dabo has been a friend for a long time. We’ve scouted his players from the NFL down. Some of the players that are here today, I actually thought, maybe we’ll be drafting one of these guys. Now here we are, going to be playing against them.”
Swinney and Belichick will face off in a highly anticipated ACC game on Saturday Oct. 4, when Clemson plays at UNC in Chapel Hill. The matchup could be a candidate for ESPN’s “College GameDay” program, depending on both teams’ record.
The Clemson-UNC game will also mark only the second time in college football history that a coach with multiple FBS national championships as a head coach (Swinney) faces another coach with multiple Super Bowls (Belichick).
The only other instance was in the 1993 Blockbuster Bowl in Miami Gardens, Florida, when Stanford and three-time Super Bowl champion coach Bill Walsh played Penn State and two-time FBS national champion coach Joe Paterno.
Swinney is a longtime admirer of Belichick, whose 333 wins only trail Don Shula’s 347 for the most in NFL history. They had met in passing during a Clemson pro day as well as a few Patriots Super Bowls (which featured Clemson alum Dwayne Allen as a New England tight end). But they didn’t formally meet until ACC spring meetings, five months after UNC unexpectedly hired Belichick to replace Mack Brown.
Swinney and Belichick filmed an hour-long sitdown interview with ESPN’s Rece Davis during the meetings, which aired in May.
“It’s been really cool,” Swinney said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I mean, it’s well documented what he’s done as a football coach, but I just think he’s a very interesting guy. I love to talk to him.”
And Belichick’s surly persona isn’t a 24/7 thing, he added with a grin.
“I saw him smile a few times today,” Swinney joked.
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM.
