Swinney: 'God has got a sense of humor' about playing Bama for CFP

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney can't help but think a higher power is having some fun with his team's matchup vs. Alabama for the national title on Jan. 11.

Swinney, an Alabama native, is a former walk-on wide receiver with the Crimson Tide and played on Alabama's 1992 national title-winning team. He was subsequently a graduate assistant for the Tide and assistant coach until he became an assistant at Clemson. He was promoted to head coach of the Tigers in 2008.

"I think God has got a sense of humor," Swinney, a devout Christian, said Tuesday. "I really do. I think it's great."

"Again, you're looking at a guy that grew up in the state of Alabama, and I mean, my dream was to play there, to go to school there. I was the one first in my family to get a college degree, and to be able to get it from the University of Alabama was a dream come true for me and for my family, and not only to go down there and really as an 18-year-old kid, I left when I was 31. But I grew up in Tuscaloosa, basically. That was kind of the most normal time of my life. I lived in that little apartment there for five years. I lived there longer than -- that was kind of my spot until I got married. It was a special 13, almost 14 years for me before I moved away from Tuscaloosa."

Swinney's mother lived with him in his apartment while he was playing at Alabama. It was a way for both of them to have a sense of normalcy after a tumultuous past.

And if God does have a sense of humor about the game, someone also wanted to know if God spoke like a famous former Alabama coach.

Reporter asks Dabo if God has Bear Bryant's voice. Dabo, playing both sides: "I don't know. He may have Frank Howard's voice."

— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) January 5, 2016

We are going to go out on a limb and say that there are more than a few Alabama fans who believe God speaks to them in Bear Bryant's voice.

Swinney said that if he could script his first national title appearance, it would be against Alabama.

"If I could just script it, you know, if I could just -- if you could say, hey, you're going to get a chance to play the National Championship Game at some point, who do you want it to be against? I would pick Alabama, again, for the same reasons, because they're the best," Swinney said. "They've been the best. They've earned that. They've got 15 National Championships and I don't know how many SEC Championships."

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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