On Saturday, two ACC teams in need of victories will collide, as Dabo Swinney's Clemson Tigers will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on Bill Belichick's North Carolina Tar Heels. Aside from the heightened media attention that has already fixated on both programs, as well as the tantalizing nature of Belichick and Swinney pitting their wits against each other, Saturday's tilt also represents an incredibly rare meeting of coaches.
What is the historical significance of the Swinney-Belichick coaching matchup?
The meeting between Swinney and Belichick, pitting a multi-time college football national champion against a multi-time Super Bowl champion, is just the second of its kind. The first meeting occurred on New Year's Eve back in 1993, when three-time Super Bowl champion Bill Walsh's Stanford Cardinal defeated two-time national champion Joe Paterno's Penn State Nittany Lions 24-3 in the Blockbuster Bowl.
It's a matchup so rare and unique that even Swinney gushed about how "cool" it was.
"It’s amazing,” Swinney said Tuesday. “I never in my lifetime thought I would get an opportunity to coach against Coach Belichick. I mean, how cool is that?"
Belichick and Swinney, who have a longtime friendship, sat down for an hour-long interview with ESPN that took place on May 12. And if it wasn't evident how much respect the two coaches have for each other during the conversation, it certainly was made apparent when Belichick spoke to reporters for his own press conference on Tuesday.
"I have a ton of respect for Coach Swinney," Belichick said. "His staff, players, the program they’ve run ... Those guys are tough. They love football, and they do it the right way."
And while the matchup has lost some of its luster due to the struggles of both programs, it's scarcity makes the contest a real treat for football fans.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why North Carolina-Clemson Clash Between Bill Belichick, Dabo Swinney Is Historic.
