Urban Meyer, Dabo Swinney hold final press conference before Fiesta Bowl

The site of the press conference, and all the press conferences this week, was the Camelback Inn, a posh resort surrounded by mountains and once frequented by Jimmy Stewart and Bing Crosby. Meyer and Swinney don’t hold that kind of star power except in the world of college football, where at this moment they preside over two of the strongest programs in the country.

Each team is in the playoff for the second time in the three-year existence of the playoff. Each coach has gaudy numbers during that span. Clemson is 36-5 in the last three seasons. Ohio State is 37-3.

Neither coach is taking his success for granted.

“I can just speak on my personal journey that in 2006 (after winning a national title at Florida), I kind of was mistaken,” Meyer said. “I remember in the locker room after the game saying, ‘Now it's time to coach for fun; we did it.’ That might be the furthest from the truth, because the journey is exhilarating and enthusiastic and energizing, and the maintenance part, I'm more cautious than ever to make sure that it doesn't become that grind.”

Swinney said Clemson has a great foundation in place.

“We just try to stay focused on our core values,” Swinney said, “and I'm constantly reminding our fan base to enjoy the journey. I know there's an expectation, but I really want to focus more on having an appreciation of our young players and what they do and how hard they work. So we try to stay focused on that. We try to serve our players' hearts, not their talents. I think if we keep that focus, then we'll continue to be about the right things.

“Winning is not our number one goal. It's just not. We want to win, but it's how we win. It's how we're graduating our players. It's how we're changing and impacting their lives, preparing them for what's next. Are they having a great experience? Are they excited to come back to Clemson? Do they have great relationships? It's a relationship-driven program.”