Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney passed on some advice to UVA coach Tony Bennett before the College Basketball National Championship Monday night.
Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney is no stranger to big games.
Since taking over the Tiger program, Swinney has coached Clemson football to two National Championships and five ACC titles. He has become one of the top two coaches in all of College Football and is building a program unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
On Monday night, the Virginia Cavaliers faced a red-hot Texas Tech team in the College Basketball National Championship.
After leading for most of the game, the Cavaliers actually trailed with 12 seconds remaining, but came back to tie the ballgame and send it to overtime. In overtime, UVA dominated and came away with an 85-77 victory.
The victory came off the heels of UVA losing to a 16-seed just one year ago in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
After the game, Virginia head coach Tony Bennett shared that he had received a text from Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney with a little advice on how to handle the big moment.
"“It said, ‘Let the light that shines in you be brighter than the light that shines on you,”‘ Bennett told reporters in a press conference following the win. I love that quote. I don’t know where it was, but I thought it was so good, and I shared it with the guys, and (Guy) has something in big games and makes plays that it’s just he has it in him.”"
Virginia was led by junior guard Kyle Guy, who scored 24 points and was named the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s great to see Dabo Swinney reaching out to fellow coaching peers. We don’t get to see it from the outside-looking in, but these coaches develop relationships with one another. There’s a comradery there that transcends just winning and losing.
Swinney’s impeccable run with Clemson has been nothing short of tremendous. He has continuously overcome the odds and taken the Tigers to new heights each and every step of the way.
Though he hasn’t won every single big game, he certainly has won more than his fair share.
That quote didn’t win the game for Virginia Monday night, but I’m sure that gave Tony Bennett a little bit of confidence and encouragement going into the matchup.