Swinney: I've never seen anything like Alabama's run

Nick Saban will look to win his fifth national champion with Alabama since 2009 on Monday, and Dabo Swinney isn't hiding his admiration.

"I've never seen anything like it," the Clemson head coach and Alabama alum said at a press conference. "Coach (Bear) Bryant was a hero of mine, and everybody here knows about coach Bryant. But with what coach Saban has done, the amount of championships in the span of time with scholarships, it's just incredible.

"I really have no words, because it's really hard to do. If we can win this thing tomorrow night, it's not like it's our final destination, like we just hang up the cleats and walk away. You're always trying to get better, and that's what I give coach Saban credit for. He's worked really hard - every year is kind of that season of its own and you have your challenges, and it's a journey of its own."

When Saban arrived in 2007, the Crimson Tide hadn't won a national championship since 1992 - a team Swinney happened to play for.

It only took the coach three years to get Alabama back on top, and its spent much of its time there since.

Standing in his way of tying Bryant for the all-time record with his sixth national championship overall is Clemson, in a rematch of last year's title game.

Swinney will look to bring home the Tigers' second championship and first since 1981.