Dabo’s World

How Dabo Swinney used his energy, faith, and determination to turn the Clemson Tigers into a football powerhouse.

Dabo Swinney is universally regarded as the best college football coach in America not named Nick Saban. DABO’S WORLD is the first sweeping biography of Dabo Swinney that attempts to unlock the secrets to his success, including his distinguishing coaching methods and his theories for developing players.

A former walk-on at Alabama, Dabo Swinney has beaten Saban twice in the College Football Playoffs and won two national championships—all before the age of 50. He’s built Clemson into such a national power that it is taken as an article of faith in college football circles that the Tigers will make the playoffs for the fifth straight year. Only Alabama, if the Tide advance, will match that feat.

Timed for the 2021 season, DABO’S WORLD is the unprecedented deep-dive into Clemson and Coach Swinney fans have been waiting for.

• "The lifeblood of college football is passion, the same force that has propelled Dabo Swinney from the broken home of his youth to the apex of autumn Saturdays. Lars Anderson shows us how the blend of joy, work ethic, faith, and love that Swinney uses to coach 'Little Ol’ Clemson' is an extension of how he lives his life. The charm, the stubbornness and the dadgum motormouth that I have covered for years are on every page. Swinney is lucky to have a writer as talented as Anderson stamping the visa to Dabo’s World."
  Ivan Maisel, on3.com Senior Writer, author of I KEEP TRYING TO CATCH HIS EYE
• "Dabo Swinney is one of the finest football coaches I've ever had the pleasure to work with. In DABO'S WORLD, Lars Anderson provides an insightful look at his life, his journey, his values, and how he has built Clemson into a national power. Every coach in America—and every football fan—could learn from this."
  Bruce Arians, Super Bowl-winning head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year
• "Dabo Swinney presents himself to the nation as a simple man, and Clemson's success a naturally occurring phenomenon. But Lars Anderson has gone deep into Swinney's mind and method to reveal the complexities, challenges, and motivations of one of college football's most influential figures and mightiest programs. DABO'S WORLD isn't just a book about a coach and his team. It's a vivid look into a football revolution, crafted in its head coach's image, and a deeply reported lens into leadership and management at the highest level. Everyone from football fans to business managers should read this book."
  Kent Babb, writer for The Washington Post and author of ACROSS THE RIVER