A World Cup champion coach sat in Dabo Swinney’s office a few years back, and Swinney had no clue. Swinney posed for a picture with the man and went on with his day.

Fast forward a bit, and the leadership book “Legacy” arrives on Swinney's desk. The book chronicles the success of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team. The All Blacks are widely considered the best in the world. Swinney read “Legacy” and quickly made a realization: “Holy crap that guy was in my office.”

That guy is Graham Henry, the All Blacks’ legendary head coach, featured prominently in “Legacy.” Swinney soon devoured the book.

“I felt like an idiot,” Swinney said. “He was like the Tom Landry of rugby.”

The Landry of rugby has continued to have an indirect impact on Clemson’s program. After Swinney and the Tigers reached the playoffs for the first time in 2015 and then won a national title in 2016, Swinney wanted to find a way to continually motivate his players. He hoped to identify principles that allowed others to find annual success. He found that in “Legacy.”

Despite knowing nothing about the All Blacks or rugby before discovering the book, ideas like “sweeping the shed” resonated with Swinney. Sweeping the shed means no individual is bigger than the team and its history. The players in the present are responsible for the details of maintaining the program’s legacy. That means after every year and every championship, the All Blacks begin anew.

“They've always done the little things probably better than everybody, and they've focused on their culture and take a lot of pride in that,” Swinney said.

And so through Swinney, the All Blacks' culture has seeped into the pores of the Clemson football program.

When redshirt junior defensive end Clelin Ferrell heard Swinney bring up the All Blacks for the first time, he thought, “What is this?” Then he listened, and the incoming classes of freshman Tigers have subsequently done so over and over again.

Swinney doesn’t bring the All Blacks up every day – usually it’s motivational video fodder every month or two – but Clemson players say the All Blacks' principles align with what the Tigers do daily. When Swinney tries to drive a point home about a championship culture, he often cites the rugby team from another hemisphere.

“Coach Swinney does a great job finding ways to really reach our guys with something new and fresh,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said. “That’s something he goes to every few months with one less that’s applicable to where we are in the season.”

All-American linebacker Tre Lamar knows nothing about rugby except he likes the sport's tackling form. But he can appreciate a winner when he sees one.

“They’re dogs,” Lamar said. “They go out there to not beat the other team but beat the standard they set for themselves.”

That’s the point Swinney is trying to drive home with his obscure rugby connection.

Swinney makes the book available in his office to anyone on the team who’d like to read it, and Ferrell said he can see many parallels between the All Blacks and what Swinney’s produced. People often bring up the unique nature of Clemson’s family-oriented, seemingly happy-go-lucky program. To Ferrell those principles aren’t new.

“People say our program is based entirely off the All Blacks organization,” Ferrell said. “I wouldn’t say it’s as unique as, ‘Oh, Dabo just thought about it.' The All Blacks are a player-led team. I feel like it takes that.”

Clemson's set to play for a third national championship in four seasons Monday.

The Tigers aren’t quite at an All Blacks level of success yet. But it’s a comparison Swinney will continue to make as Clemson deals with the trappings of success.

“It was great for me to read,” Swinney said.

Correction: In the original version of this story we wrote Swinney met with current All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen instead of the program's former head coach Graham Henry. 247Sports regrets this error.