Bill Belichick Says He's 'Learning' from Clemson's Dabo Swinney Ahead of UNC Debut

Despite his six Super Bowl rings as New England Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick said he is "learning" from another college coaching great as he shifts in his career, taking a few pages from two-time College Football Playoff national champion Dabo Swinney of Clemson.

"We're all learning from Dabo," Belichick told TigerNet.com's Grayson Mann. "He's enjoyable to be around. Maybe that won't be the case on Saturday."

Belichick had high praise for the 17-year Clemson coach, who has made four trips to the College Football Playoff National Championship, winning two and adding a first-round playoff appearance.

The former New England Patriots coach told Mann that Swinney has built a “high-quality program” and that he has “a ton of respect” for the 73-year-old, first-year college coach who spent 29 years in the NFL.

Meanwhile, the former AP Coach of the Year said he was starstruck when he first saw Belichick participate in the ACC’s annual spring meetings in May.

“There was more than one occasion that I went, ‘Yep, that’s Bill Belichick right there’ in ACC head coaches meetings,” Swinney said, per The State's Chapel Fowler. “It’s, like, the most 2025 thing ever.”

“How often would a coach get a chance to be with a coach like Bill Belichick?" Swinney added, per Fowler. "Most of the time, you’d have to be in the NFL. And then all of the sudden, he’s in your ACC coaches meetings?”

The Clemson Tigers will face North Carolina on the road Oct. 4, marking the first meeting between the two head coaches.