Dabo Swinny has been one of the most amazing coaches that I’ve ever met.  Although, I’m not sure that I’ve met him… but I did meet his wife and his two older sons when they first came to Clemson in 2003 and his family is wonderful!  When they were moving to Clemson, they stayed at the hotel where I worked for a while and so I was able to talk with Kathleen occasionally and ended up babysitting the boys several times.

Most people know by now that Dabo is the real deal.  He’s genuine and kind and cares SO much about people.  Especially his people; his family, his staff, his players, and Clemson fans.  All of us!  So when he said that he would throw a pizza party in Death Valley if we were still at the top of the polls and had a chance at the college football playoffs, he meant it.  And followed through with it!

Yesterday morning, about 30,000 people gathered in Death Valley for pizza and the announcement of the playoff polls.  It was SO much fun to be in that stadium when we found out we were still #1 and headed to the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma!!  I’ve seen LOTS of Clemson football in that stadium, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  So to be there for this… undefeated, #1 in the nation, ACC Conference Champions and headed to the Orange Bowl for the playoffs was incredible!

I became a college football fan in Clemson my freshman year.  And I’m so excited for my alma mater and our team!

It’s been a while since taking a selfie with my DSLR.  I’m a bit out of practice, but I love this!

We were all so curious how it was going to work… how they were going to get pizza to so many people!  But we got one of these as we walked in the stadium and were able to pick up our pizza at the concession stands.  Easy peasy!

Once things got started, it was a lot more full than this.

This little boy LOVES Clemson football.  So, when he’s back here playing on that field, I’ll be able to say “I knew him when!”  But that’s what happens when it’s your college roommate’s son :-)  Oh, and you might recognize Turner.  She’s been on the blog a few times this past year!  She’s also Cooper’s teacher at school and I love this photo of the two of them!

The ACC Championship trophy and the Palmetto Bowl trophy were on the field.  We’re all looking forward to adding a couple more before this season is officially over!

The moment we’d all been waiting for!  Clemson at #1!!!

And then we found out we’d be playing OK in the Orange Bowl.  I’m a little nervous…

The boys were so excited to get autographs!  It was so sweet to watch them and how kind the players were.
They didn’t want to leave any of the kids out!

And a few iPhone photos for good measure (No, I didn’t get two slices of pizza.  I was holding one for Natalie!).