Clemson’s Dabo Swinney headlines Sportsvisions football luncheon

Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is one of only four football coaches whose team is still in the national title hunt. Even though the Tigers are now on a Sugar Bowl countdown, their head coach spent Wednesday in Columbus offering some insight.

Swinney was the keynote speaker at Sportsvisions’ 10th annual Columbus Valley Area High School Football Awards luncheon. Swinney addressed a crowd made up mostly of local high school coaches and players and shared his experiences as a player and a coach.

“It’s a great opportunity. I appreciate the invite,” Swinney said. “I love the game of football, and it’s great to see student-athletes who have the opportunity to be honored for the hard work and dedication that they’ve put into their craft. It’s a blessing to be here.”

Swinney shared lessons accumulated throughout his life, going back to his childhood in Pelham, Ala. Swinney walked on at Alabama, eventually earned a scholarship and lettered on three Crimson Tide teams, including the 1992 national championship squad.

Swinney used himself as a motivator to the crowd, telling them if he could go from a no-name walk-on to a contributor and later one of the top coaches in the sport, anyone could accomplish whatever they aimed for.

The key, Swinney explained, was having goals and keeping the drive to succeed alive.

“There are three kinds of people,” Swinney said. “There’s those who make it happen, there’s those who watch it happen and there’s those who wake up at noon and say, ‘What the heck just happened?’ ”

Swinney joined a list of prior notable speakers at the luncheon, which includes Alabama’s Nick Saban and Georgia’s Kirby Smart. Having a premier coach speak certainly draws many onlookers, but ultimately, the day was about the local players.

“I think this (luncheon) is one of the greatest things I’ve been involved with since I came (to Central),” said Jamey DuBose, who took home Coach of the Year honors. “When you get the opportunity to promote young talent and promote what’s going on with our kids each and every day, it’s an outstanding thing. It’s a first-class event.”

DuBose also saw one of his players honored with wide receiver Justyn Ross being named the Isaiah Crowell Offensive Player of the Year. Ross was one of several local student-athletes rewarded Wednesday for a productive 2017 campaign.

Northside linebacker Caleb Johnson was named Defensive Player of the Year after a senior season which included 104 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and 3 defensive touchdowns. Johnson said not receiving the award his junior year was a motivator, and thanks to his work ethic he finally accomplish that goal.

Johnson recognized how valuable an event like this is for himself and the other players who were in attendance.

“It just means a lot,” Johnson said. “I get to see guys I grew up playing with and see how they’ve grown and matured into being better players.”

Like Johnson, Hardaway running back Marco Lee took in the entire experience.

Lee took note of Swinney’s emphasis on going all-in in everything you do, which Swinney demonstrated with a little crowd participation. After asking the audience to raise their hands if they were proud of the student-athletes in the room, Swinney quickly followed up, requesting those same people raise their hands as high as they could.

The visual difference between the second exercise and the first, Swinney explained, was the difference provided by going all-in.

As useful as Swinney’s speech was, Lee didn’t leave with only life lessons. He also took home Outstanding Offensive Player of the Year, an award he said he was not expecting.

“It’s very important to know I have some viewers out there that saw me play real hard,” said Lee, who rushed for 1,570 yards as a senior. “All the hard work pays off.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Clemson’s Dabo Swinney headlines Sportsvisions football luncheon."