Over the last few weeks, there have been some wild coaching changes all over football. In college football, the biggest one was former Alabama head coach Nick Saban deciding to retire. Throughout last week, Dabo Swinney’s name was brought up multiple times as a possible successor to Saban. Vegas even had him as a betting favorite to be named the new Alabama head coach for a short time. It also was not the first time Swinney’s name was brought up in conversations for an SEC job opening this offseason. He also was said to be considered for the Texas A&M job before Mike Elko accepted it. With the smoke cleared now, it turns out Swinney will not coach his alma mater or any other SEC school. He will remain at Clemson for another year.
Current Legacy
The upcoming 2024 season will be Swinney’s 14th full season as the Clemson Tigers’ head coach. He got the job after a stint as the interim head coach in 2008. As the full-time head coach at Clemson, he has an overall record of 166-40. Those 166 wins give Swinney the All-Time Wins record for a head coach at Clemson. Swinney has also won two national championships and eight ACC championships. Six of those ACC championship wins came in consecutive seasons between 2015 and 2020, also giving the Tigers six straight playoff appearances. During this time, Swinney has helped develop two quarterbacks into Heisman award finalists, Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson. They also became two of the 17 players Swinney has coached who were taken in the first round of the NFL draft.
Adjusting to the New Age
The main criticism Swinney gets right now is that he is against using the transfer portal and NIL to the program’s fullest advantage. Many people believe this is what has caused Clemson to begin slipping in production. Swinney is not against using the portal or NIL money by any means though. He was in the portal fairly heavy when it opened this off-season looking for an offensive lineman. It just did not work out, just like his past attempts at getting players out of the transfer portal. Swinney believes there is a right way to use these new tools and wants to make sure he brings in players who are not just money-hungry.
He also still finds a lot of value in recruiting high school players and developing them over time. On paper, this approach has not worked out so great for the Tigers. They have missed the College Football Playoff for three consecutive seasons now. With the way the 2023 season ended though, Clemson may be heading back in the right direction. Five straight wins, two against top-25 ranked teams, and much of the production came from young players recruited out of high school.
Swinney’s Best Attribute
Swinney remaining with the Clemson program brings something many college football programs don’t have much of right now: stability. Many people figured Swinney would elect to stay with the Tigers in 2024. Much of that is because he has lived by his saying “ALL IN.” Swinney has shown an unwavering dedication to the Clemson program that many coaches and players alike don’t seem to have for their schools in today’s landscape.
This stability is attractive to top recruits as Swinney has two 5-star and 10 4-star recruits on the way in 2024. It also makes players already in the program more likely to stay. Clemson has only had nine players total hit the transfer portal. Some players even elect to skip out on the NFL Draft and spend an extra year in Death Valley. Even when they are sure to be picked by somebody like Barrett Carter was. Lastly, this stability is a big part of why the Tigers have won nine or more games in 13 straight seasons. Swinney will have a chance to do it 14 straight times in 2024.
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