CLEMSON, S.C. -- Last December, Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott became co-offensive coordinators at Clemson. About a month later, they both learned their wives were pregnant.

To borrow a line that Elliot used over the summer: Talk about co-coordinating!

All joking aside, there was no master plan for them to have babies at the same time. It just happened. Now, the moment they have waited nine months for has arrived, with the toughest stretch of the season about to begin.

Sara Scott, whose due date was this coming Saturday, went into labor early and gave birth on Thursday to a daughter, Savannah Jennings Scott (7 pounds, 9 ounces). Her initial due date was Oct. 3, the day Clemson hosts Notre Dame. Tamika Elliott's due date is Oct. 14; the Elliotts are expecting a boy four days after the Tigers host Georgia Tech.

Oh baby, indeed.

The baby is the first for the Scotts, and the second for the Elliotts. Sara and Tamika have grown close since their husbands started working together on the Clemson staff in 2011, making the journey over the last several months all the more meaningful.

They got together Monday to reflect on going through their pregnancies together.

“It’s been fun,” Sara said. “If I have any questions, Tamika is who I’m calling. I don’t care what it is, Tamika is who I’m going to.”

Said Tamika: “It’s flown by, oh my goodness it’s flown by. I knew I was pregnant when she made the announcement she was pregnant. I kept it. I wanted her to have her moment.”

Sara jumps in, “When she texted me, I said, ‘I knew it! I knew it!’ That’s all I could say.”

There is a reason Tamika wanted Sara to have her moment. Not only was this Sara’s first baby, but the Scotts had been trying for seven long, difficult years to get pregnant.

Sara watched friends and family members have babies during those years, and had come to terms with the idea that she may never have a baby of her own. So when she started to feel a little funny in January, she had to be absolutely positive the miracle she had been waiting on had arrived.

She found an old pregnancy test in her cabinet that was long expired. She took it anyway. It was negative. Unsatisfied, she went to the store and got a new test. It was positive. So was the next one she took. But before telling Jeff, she wanted to take one more test just to be sure. The next day, she went back to the store to buy another one. It was positive.

So she glued all three tests to the bottom of a gift box and wrote, “Congratulations, Daddy!” and wrapped it up like a Christmas gift. When Jeff came home later in the afternoon, she told him she was cleaning up the house and found an old gift she forgot to give him.

She handed him the box. He opened it and just stared at her.

“He was in shock,” Sara said. “He didn’t know I was going to be taking the test or anything. And a little bit later, he was like, ‘Did I react the way I thought you’d react?’ I said, ‘I don’t know what I thought.’ When I found out, I was crying. He was in shock.”

Soon, the shock wore off and turned into immense gratefulness and determination to make sure their baby girl arrived safely. Jeff Scott told the coaching staff just before spring break during their daily devotional. “Everybody here has been so supportive of us,” he said. “It truly has been a blessing.”

Sara immediately texted the coaches’ wives to give them the news.

“Everyone knew it was a sensitive subject, but we prayed, we prayed so much,” Tamika said. “When we found out, we were all so excited. She had a lot of people praying for her. I had my girlfriend from my Bible study group praying for her. She’s going to be such a great mommy.”

Sara has a pink and gray nursery all set up. She is waiting for one missing piece of decor, a sign she had made that reads, “Some things are worth the wait.”

“It’s been a long road, but the amazing thing is our faith is so strong,” Sara said. “Jeff, and I know it was hard for him, too, but he had to stay extra strong for me. Keeping me grounded in faith, knowing everything happens in God’s time no matter what.”

Tamika, still three weeks away from delivering, has stayed on her toes thanks to her son, A.J., a 2½-year-old with so much energy it is hard for her to keep up. She also works part-time as a nurse and teaches an online course once a week.

She still needs to fix up the nursery and get ready for the baby, whom the Elliotts will name Austin, with plans to call him Ace.

“It’s been busy,” Tamika said. “A.J. is getting faster and faster, but my friends say, ‘No, you’re getting slower and slower.’ But that’s all we know is busy.”

They may not have planned their pregnancies to run together. But after sharing the experience, the truth is neither Sara Scott nor Tamika Elliott would have wanted it any other way.