Dabo Swinney appreciates 'real class' by FSU in honoring Ella Bresee

Clemson and Florida State battled at Doak Campbell Stadium for a full 60 minutes Saturday night.

While the two teams got after each other on the football field, there is also a mutual respect between the two programs.

That was evident even before the game as Florida State had “Ella Strong” on the wall at Doak Campbell Stadium.

FSU was honoring Ella Bresee, who passed away from brain cancer last month. Ella Bresee is the younger sister of Clemson defensive tackle Bryan Bresee.

“Just real class by Florida State. I mean that just shows a lot of class on their part,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We’re all competitors, but just a lot of respect. We’re all people.”

Bryan Bresee missed the past two weeks as he had been dealing with a non-football medical issue, but he returned to action Saturday against the Seminoles.

During warmups, Bresee came out of the Clemson tunnel, came over to the wall where ‘Ella Bresee’ was painted, kissed his fingers and touched the wall.

Swinney first found out that Florida State was putting “Ella Strong” on the wall late last week and shared the news with Bresee prior to Clemson’s trip to Tallahassee.

“I just happened to be going to work out at lunch and I was walking through the training room, and Bryan was in there. And I showed him that, and it was pretty cool,” Swinney said. “I appreciate the Florida State people just being so thoughtful. And just real class, a class act, for sure.”

While Swinney spoke about the gesture for the first time publicly after the game, he told Florida State coach Mike Norvell how much he appreciated it prior to Saturday night’s matchup.

“I told Mike before the game, that really meant a lot,” Swinney said. “I think it just really says a lot about the people of Florida State, the administration. I mean that was special.”