Dabo Swinney black eye, stitches at Clemson, UNC basketball game explained

Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney is taking in the Tigers basketball game against North Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum with a little bit of an injury.

Swinney was shown on television with a black eye, causing a bit of a stir on social media.

You can see a picture of Swinney below:

IS DABO OK?!? pic.twitter.com/4VcLIPc8qS

— Matthew Brune (@MatthewBrune_) January 6, 2024

According to David Hood, Swinney was injured in a pickup basketball game recently.

“Guess everyone saw Coach Swinney… He took one to the face playing pickup basketball and had to get stitches,” Hood posted on Twitter.

Dabo Swinney is not shy about his love for watching basketball and playing basketball. Unfortunately, in this instance, it led to a black eye.

The 54-year-old Swinney just completed his 21st season at Clemson. The former Alabama player originally joined the Clemson football staff as a receivers coach in 2003, before being elevated to interim head coach in 2008.

As the saying goes, the rest is history.

Dabo Swinney has led Clemson to the College Football Playoff six times and a pair of national titles. Clemson has also won the ACC eight times under Swinney.

With that said, Clemson has not reached the playoff since 2020, missing out three straight years. The Tigers finished 9-4 this season but did end the year on a five-game winning streak.

Swinney returns quarterback Cade Klubnik and several studs on defense for next season as he tries to get the Tigers back to being an elite program.

Dabo Swinney shares pride in Clemson players in NFL

Dabo Swinney has had several players go on to play in the NFL after their time at Clemson, which is something he takes pride in.

Before Swinney and his Clemson Tigers took down the Kentucky Wildcats at the 2023 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl he was asked about three of his former players who are now stars on the scene in Jacksonville. Former Clemson center Tyler Shatley, quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne are trying to help the Jaguars clinch their second straight playoff spot.

Before the game, Swinney heaped praise on his former players for the job they’ve done to turn the Jaguars around over the past three seasons.

“Man, super proud of those guys. Really proud of ’em,” Swinney said. “Got a chance to see Shatley the other day, a couple of his kids.

“Tyler was in my first signing class. He was part of the Dandy Dozen. All 12 of those guys graduated, doing really good in life. He’s still playing. He’s the last man standing of that group. I guess this is, I don’t know, year 10 or something like that for him. Captain. Pretty good for a free agent guy, to stay with the same team. Really proud of him. I think he’s been a good big brother to those guys as they’ve come into the fold here.”