Dabo Swinney gets emotional talking about son Will scoring a TD vs. Louisville

The Clemson Tigers blew out the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday. Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney got to see his son Will Swinney find pay dirt for Clemson.

The Clemson Tigers are by far and away the best team in the ACC this season. They are the No. 2 team in the nation, improving to 9-0 on the year after routing the division rival Louisville Cardinals to the tune of 77-16 on Saturday afternoon in Death Valley.

Typically, this clash between ACC Atlantic foes is a bit more evenly matched. However, Louisville has gone in the tank since losing former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson to the NFL Draft. Bobby Petrino’s team has lost an almost unthinkable seventh game of the season.

While Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney probably wanted his team to come out of this game healthier more than anything, he did get to see something very special on the gridiron. His son wide receiver Will Swinney got to score his first career touchdown as a member of the Clemson football program.

Already up 70-16, Swinney took it eight yards to the house on a Chase Brice jet sweep for six to make it 76-16 Clemson. Swinney is a sophomore wide receiver playing for his father. On the year, he had five catches for 20 yards entering the game. Now, he has found pay dirt for the Tigers.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1058889187406036992

Sure, some people might have felt that Clemson was running up the score at home on Louisville. That may be true to some extent, but it’s not like Swinney or Brice are first-team players for this ACC juggernaut. Louisville also has to stop them, which the Cardinals could not.

Of course, you have to absolutely factor in the cool element of a dad drawing up a play for his son and it working in the form of a touchdown in front of the home crowd. The younger Swinney will have two more years of eligibility to play for his father. Clemson isn’t leaving the top-tier of the college football elite any time soon.

That being said, it’s not every day that a coach’s son gets to score a touchdown for his father in a huge ACC rivalry game. If this were against a Group of 5 team, it would surely be heartfelt. But having this come against one of Clemson’s bitter rivals in a rout makes it all the more special.

Clemson should cruise to its fourth-straight ACC Championship victory and its fourth-straight College Football Playoff appearance. Swinney has emerged as one of the very best coaches in college football in the last few years. However, it’s still fantastic to see a father and son bond like this on this high of a stage. Simply put, Will made Dabo and “Mama Swinney” very proud.