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Dabo Swinney had a special message for Nick Saban after last year's title game
Dabo Swinney had a feeling he’d be in Tampa this week.
On Monday, Swinney and his Clemson Tigers will take on Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship for the second season in a row. Before last year’s game, Swinney and Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban made a friendly bet: winner buys each other dinner.
The Tide came out on top 45-40 last year, so Swinney made good on the wager, sending Saban a gift certificate to a restaurant both are fond of (the two vacation in the same part of Florida). But when he sent the gift over to Saban, Swinney included a very specific message.
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“I got him a nice dinner certificate to Temptations, which is our favorite restaurant at the place we vacation, but I did write on there, ‘See you in Tampa next year,'” Swinney explained Saturday at College Football Playoff media day.
“It’s crazy. Here we are, both back in the same spot, and again, incredible respect for what he’s done. Obviously great respect for University of Alabama, and look forward to competing with him again, and hopefully I can come out on the other side this time.”
How cool is that? Even after a tough loss last year, Swinney knew he had a ton of talent returning this season. Alabama did too, so Swinney wasn’t afraid to make a bold prediction.
Swinney said he saw Saban not long after last year’s title game. Saban didn’t have to nudge him about the dinner promise, either. Swinney got it out of the way.
“He’s not all soft and cuddly, as y’all know, and he was great after the game. He really was. He was really good, and then I actually saw him like a week or so later, and we were at an airport together. He was very gracious, very complimentary. He knew. I mean, it was a game that could have gone either way on a few plays,” Swinney said.
“We have a mutual friend and they were going to have a little dinner cruise, and we happened to be down here for spring break at the same time, and so they invited us to come on a dinner cruise, and we both had on our nice green shirts. I showed up, and right out of the gate when we got on the boat, he was there, and I said, all right, let’s get the elephant out of the room right now because I don’t like owing anybody.”
This year, Swinney hopes, it will be Saban buying him dinner.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
