Although Coach Swinney and his wife Kathleen could not attend the 12^th annual Gene Stallings golf tournament in Tuscaloosa, AL. Thursday and Friday because of their trip to the NFL draft with CJ Spiller, they sent a donation of $10,000 to the Rise School in memory of Coach Stallings son John Mark.

The Gene Stallings annual golf tournament raises funds for the Rise School to pay for the school's physical, speech, occupational and music therapy, as well as equipment and special needs staff. Stallings, whose late son John Mark had Down syndrome, has always worked closely with the Rise School.

Dabo played and coached for Coach Stallings. Current Clemson assistants Danny Pearman and Woody McCorvey were coaches at Alabama under Stallings.

The tournament hopes to raise $200,000 this year.

“What it does, as a rule of thumb, if you have a child with special needs and he goes to a school like the Rise program, it costs $1,100, 1,200 a month,” Stallings said. “As a result of this tournament and a few other things, if you have a child that has Downs and wants to go to the Rise school in Tuscaloosa, it doesn't cost the parents a dime, and that's a big deal. It's enough of a burden to have a child with special needs, then to have to pay $1,100-1,200 a month so that that child can go to school, it just doesn't make sense.

Dabo had this to say, “We are blessed through our foundation to be able to support Coach Stallings and the Rise program. His time and efforts over the years to the Rise School are an inspiration for Kath and I with our foundation. Kath and I owe a lot to Coach Stallings, but we learned some very important life lessons from John Mark.”

Coach Stallings with Dabo