When Dabo Swinney officially took over Clemson football for the 2009 season, it was considered a good program that couldn't quite recapture the greatness of the Danny Ford era. Dabo had spent his entire life as an underdog, but his defiant grit pushed him past personal hardships and professional adversity. His simple formula—faith, family, forgiveness, fortitude, and fun—pushed the Clemson football program past its potential and to the next level, taking the Tigers to 10 bowl games and four ACC championships, earning three College Football Playoff appearances, and most importantly, capturing the 2016 national championship. In Top of the Hill: Dabo Swinney and Clemson's Rise to College Football Greatness , Greenville News sports columnist and Clemson insider Manie Robinson traces Dabo's coaching ascension along Clemson football's return to glory, going behind the scenes of one of the powerhouse programs in the country. Manie Robinson covers the Clemson Tigers for the Greenville News , joining the paper in 2005. This is his first book. Tajh Boyd was Clemson's starting quarterback from 2011 to 2013. He was the ACC Player of the Year in 2012 and finished his career with school and conference records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. Top of the Hill Dabo Swinney and Clemson's Rise to College Football Greatness By Manie Robinson Triumph Books LLC Copyright © 2018 Manie Robinson All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-62937-625-7 Contents Foreword by Tajh Boyd, Prologue, 1. That Boy from Pelham, 2. Dab and Kath, 3. Lightning Strikes Twice, 4. All In, 5. Mr. Fix-It, 6. The Buy-In, 7. Fourth-and-16, 8. The One That Got Away, 9. The Legend of Deshaun, 10. The Audition, 11. 15-For-15, 12. BYOG, 13. Pizza Party, 14. Rather Later Than Sooner, 15. Roll Tigers, 16. Desert Disappointment, 17. Chasing Greatness, 18. Flirting with Disaster, 19. Little Brother, 20. Orange Crush, 21. Home, 22. Attacking National Champions, 23. Built to Last, Acknowledgments, Photo Gallery, CHAPTER 1 That Boy from Pelham Dabo Swinney is too polite to correct folks when they mispronounce his name. He is too Pelham to go by William Christopher. That is the regal name his parents, Ervil and Carol, gave him when he was born on November 20, 1969, the third boy in the family after Tracy and Tripp. As a nickname, Carol wanted to call the youngest of her three sons "Chris." However, Chris's 18-month-old brother Tripp had no interest in trying to pronounce that. He referred to his baby brother as "That Boy." When filtered through the diction of a toddler and the dialect of Alabama, "That Boy" sounds like "Dăbo." With a short a and an abrupt inflection. Swinney admits that he did not know his name was William until the third grade. The peculiar moniker suited him. It signified his family ties, his deep Pelham, Alabama, roots. And just like Swinney, once you encountered the name, you would not easily forget it. Carol recognized Dabo's signature grit immediately. "The first time I ever laid my eyes on him, he had his little fists up," Carol said. "I laughed and said, `Uhoh, he's going to be a fighter.'" Takes one to know one. Before her second birthday, Carol was afflicted with polio. During the 1940s, polio killed or paralyzed more than 500,000 people worldwide each year. Carol was admitted to the Birmingham Crippled Children's Hospital and remained there for 11 years. She was temporarily paralyzed and stricken by scoliosis. At one point, polio disfigured Carol's body so severely that her head could touch the side of her feet. Doctors presumed she would never walk normally. After 10 years of treatments, two surgeries, and one determined spirit, Carol walked out of that hospital. She even became a majorette in her high school marching band. During her lengthy treatment, Carol was isolated from her family. Her childhood was far from normal, even farther from easy. She wanted desperately to create a normal, pleasant life for her own children. She dreamed of the storybook life complete with the dog and white picket fence. Two weeks after she graduated from Woodlawn High School in 1962, Carol married Ervil. Seven years and three sons later, her dream of a loving, thriving home had bloomed into fruition. Dabo was two years old when his family moved from Birmingham to the burgeoning suburb of Pelham. The Swinneys settled on a two-story house on Ryecroft Road. The Swinney home became the hub for neighborhood children and the stadium for sandlot football games. Ervil operated a successful washer and dryer repair service. At one point he ran three locations, including one in the M&M Hardware shop in Alabaster, just south of Pelham. Ervil regaled the regulars with tall tales and trademark quips. Carol flourished as a stay-at-home mother. She volunteered at her children's schools and even served as a substitute teacher. The Swinneys' life played out like the script of a classic family sitcom. The dr