A cold Saturday in the upstate and some wet weather did not spoil the mood as Clemson held a victory parade followed by a celebration inside Memorial Stadium.
Head coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers rolled through the streets of downtown Clemson before gathering inside the Valley where the head coach and a few players spoke to the crowd.
Before he made his way to Littlejohn Coliseum for an afternoon of basketball, Dabo spent a few minutes talking to reporters afterwards about the journey of the 2018 Tiger squad. In spite of two national championships on his resume, Swinney says that's not how he determines the final verdict for a team.
That philosophy might explain why Swinney appreciates the contributions of the 2012 Clemson squad. The Tigers went 10-2 and capped off the season with a 25-24 win over LSU in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. While that team did not contend for a national championship, it is considered one of the major building blocks for Swinney on his way to the two national titles.
"Not everybody's going to win a championship. But you don't have to win a championship to have all the right ingredients to have a great team and a love and appreciation for each other and great work ethic and commitment," Swinney said after the nearly three-hour celebration.
"For some people, people measure things by trophies, but I never measure things that way. That's just a byproduct of what can happen. But this team is special and I'm glad they were able to finish it off."
Clemson's 44-16 win over Alabama marked the first time since 1897 that a team recorded a 15-0 campaign.