Dabo Swinney's inability to change could be his downfall at Clemson

Dabo Swinney is who he is at this point in his career with the Clemson Tigers.

He's been the head coach since 2008, and yes, he's had some wonderful success in his time with the Tigers. Most schools would give anything for one national championship. Swinney brought Clemson two and his squad played for four total.

There was a time when Clemson was the cream of the crop in college football, right next to Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide, but times have changed. Heck, that's part of the reason Saban ended up retiring.

The transfer portal and NIL era have made the world of recruiting and player retention so much more competitive, and all indications coming out of Clemson suggest that Swinney has not changed with the times.

College football analyst Josh Pate certainly thinks that's the case.

“You’ve seen what Clemson can be, because Dabo Swinney showed you. And now you won’t accept anything less," Pate said this past weekend (h/t On3). "And they’ve become less than what they were. College football has changed all around Dabo Swinney. Dabo has changed minimally to keep up with the changes in college football.”

Swinney was always known for his ability to develop and recruit, but he's barely used the transfer portal to his advantage, and NIL has basically stolen any advantage he had on the recruiting trail.

What that means is that he's become average at best as a head coach, and Clemson's 7-6 campaign this season, which includes a 22-10 bowl game loss to Penn State, is indicative of that.

Clemson HC Dabo Swinney has shown an inability to adapt

For his part, Pate thinks it's actually going to get worse for Clemson.

“They’re all Clemson kids. They were all recruited here. They’ve been developed here. There’s minimal portal infusion whatsoever. Favorable schedule. This right here will be the truest test out of any test for any of these teams about how it reflects on the head coach of the program. And they went 7-6," Pate explained. "You look at 7-6 and your instinct is, ‘Oh we had a down year, next year will be better.' No. No, on paper, next year should be worse for Clemson. … I don’t see any reason to think it’d get better.”

Swinney is a college football legend, but his star is quickly fading, and frankly, he has no one but himself to blame. If he can't quickly adjust, he's going to end up unceremoniously dumped by the program he built. 

The problem for him is that it may be too late. Clemson is too far behind the eight ball.