Well, let me say the title of this post should more accurately be “Why Clemson Won – Possibly, Theologically Thinking.”

My thought is that Coach Dabo Swinney of the championship Clemson college football team did such a powerful job at giving God glory that it struck me as possibly part of the reason Clemson may have won.

During the nationally televised post game interview, Coach Dabo Swinney said, “All the credit – all the glory – goes to the good Lord.” Speaking to an ESPN reporter he said, “For me, joy comes from focusing on Jesus, others and yourself. There are so many coaches that are so deserving of a moment like this. To get to do it once, and now to get to do it again, it’s a blessing. It’s simply the grace of the good Lord to allow us to experience something like this.” In a press conference the day before he remarked, “Football is important to me, but it’s not the biggest thing in my life, my faith is.”

It’s unlikely that we would have heard the same from Coach Nick Saban, although he holds to a Catholic faith and undoubtedly is one of the best college football coaches of all time.

My family reminded me that the Alabama quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, are quick to give glory to God when the mic is before them. And,I think that is awesome. I also think that this long run of success for Tua may not necessarily be as powerful of a witness as a loss may be.

Sometimes our best witness is not in giving glory to God in our success, but in giving glory to God in our failure. While I didn’t hear or read anything from Tua in response to his team’s loss, I didn’t really expect the coach of Clemson to be the one in the spotlight after the game but after all, the credit does go to the good Lord, doesn’t it?