Swinney staying put in Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson Tigers’ football fans can finally breathe again because their head coach Dabo Swinney is here to stay, for now.

Last week, Alabama head coach Nick Saban called it quits after 17 years leading the Crimson Tide. His announcement created mayhem for a few days as the Tide were on the hunt for their 28th head coach. They dropped a wish list of coaches and Swinney name was at the top of the list for obvious reasons.

The 54-year-old Tigers’ head coach is an Alabama native and he also was apart of the 1992 national championship team as well as a coach their staff from as a graduate assistant and full time assistant from 1995-2001.

Swinney also faced Saban and the Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoffs under the four team format on four separate occasions(2-2). His two wins both came in the national championship game (2016, 2018).

It was once thought that Swinney would be the obvious replacement for Saban once he called it quits and clearly Clemson thought the same way. According to multiple reports, Clemson put in an ‘Alabama clause’ in 2022 when he received his contract extension that stated if he were to take over the head coaching position in Tuscaloosa then his buyout would increase. The clause stated that it would be a 150% buyout if he were to leave for Alabama. By the numbers, he[Swinney] would owe Clemson $5 million and Alabama would have to pay $7.5 million. Those numbers will of course dwindle down through the years, but it would’ve been a hefty price to pay.

It was a shrewd move for both the university and their fan base in order to keep their legendary head coach, but now Clemson fans are feeling a bit trapped. Swinney has yet to adopt to NIL, transfer portal and the new age of college football altogether. It has cost him and the Tigers’ program to take a step back. This season was the first since 2010 they have not registered 10 or more wins.

It got so bad this season that Swinney actually addressed the fan base and called a small percentage of them “spoiled.” According to 247 sports, Clemson haven’t cracked the top-10 in recruiting since 2021. This year, Sammy Brown headlines a consensus 13th overall recruiting class, which many schools would view that as a win. There’s also been questions about the quarterback position. The program once had the luxury of Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence from 2014-2020. Now, it has been over hyped and under performing talent, which have spread across the whole roster and not just the quarterback position.

Regardless, the Clemson faithful and Dabo are linked together at least until 2031, per his 2022 contract extension, and the Crimson Tide hired Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer. So for now, the 98.5% of appreciative Clemson fans have their two-time national championship head coach back in purple and orange.