Dabo Swinney jokingly reveals ‘secret sauce’ to beat Bill Belichick, UNC
Clemson and UNC both play in the same conference.
Two years ago, Bill Belichick was head coach of the Patriots and Bill O’Brien was on his staff as offensive coordinator.
Now, both are working in the Atlantic Coast Conference, leading different programs as head coaches.
Belichick is entering his first season as head coach of North Carolina. This will be O’Brien’s second season at Boston College, where he went 7-6 during his debut.
During a recent appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” football podcast, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney joked about facing both Belichick and O’Brien this season.
“We play the New England Patriots this year,” Swinney said. “We go to North Carolina and then we go to Boston College to play Bill O’Brien, so I feel like I’m playing the whole Patriots organization in about a two-week span there.”
The Tigers will travel to Chapel Hill for their matchup with the Tar Heels on Oct. 4. The following week, they’ll be in Chestnut Hill taking on the Eagles on Oct. 11.
Clemson beat UNC 31-20 the last time the two teams met on Nov. 18 2023. UNC quarterback Drake Maye, who was eventually drafted by the Patriots, went 16-for-36 passing with a touchdown and an interception in that game.
Swinney joked about his expectations for special teams to have a big impact in this year’s matchup against UNC.
“We went and got our own Patriot. I think he’s got three Super Bowl championships,” Swinney said. “Ryan Allen was a punter for you and he’s our specialists coach and he’s our secret sauce for finding a way to beat the Patriots in October whenever we play them.”
Belichick, who appeared on the podcast with Swinney, smiled as he reminisced about Allen’s punting skills. Allen was the first punter to win back-to-back Ray Guy awards in 2011 and 2012, and he was selected as a member of the Patriots’ All-Dynasty team in 2020.
“He was a good plus-50 punter. I mean, really good,” Belichick said. “He’d hit that wedge down there and it would come down and land at about the four or five yard line. [Matthew] Slater would down it or catch it. He was the master. It was like pitch and catch.”
Swinney cracked a joke about his team’s special teams coaching, and it got a laugh out of Belichick.
Belichick has had an affinity for special teams throughout his career. He spent a season as an assistant special teams coach with the Lions early in his career in 1976.
It was Belichick’s first full-time coaching job in the NFL. He was 23 at the time. He had previously been a staff assistant for Baltimore Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda.
Special teams excellence was a hallmark of Belichick’s Patriots teams during much of the dynasty era.
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