Dabo Swinney is synonymous with Clemson football. Nick Saban is arguably the best college football coach of all time. Their careers, and destinies, have always been intertwined.
When Saban announced his retirement from coaching on Wednesday, after leading the Crimson Tide to six national championships in 17 years, the day of reckoning Clemson fans long have dreaded finally arrived. For years it had always been assumed, or at least speculated, that Swinney could be the coach to follow Saban at his alma mater. Dabo, after all, is an Alabama native, graduate and former player for the University of Alabama, and won a title there as a student athlete.
As Bear Bryant once quipped, “When Mama calls, you answer.”
In the wake of Saban’s bombshell announcement, rumors and speculation were rampant about who would replace the legend. Inevitably, Swinney’s name entered the conversation almost immediate. Surprisingly, though, it was as more of an afterthought as many would have predicted five or so years ago as Oregon’s Dan Lanning was near immediately tabbed to be Saban’s likely replacement.
Clemson fans everywhere breathed a collective sigh of relief. Should that exhale have been held onto a while longer?
Lanning publicly stated on Thursday that he was staying in Eugene, presumably removing his name from consideration. That proclamation also shortened the list of candidates. Lane Kiffin has been mentioned heavily, and so has Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer. So, too, has Swinney’s.
It brings everyone to the greater question. Does Alabama even want Swinney now, and does Dabo want them? If this were any time between 2015-2020, Tiger fans would have been justifiably worried. Now, I am not so sure. Swinney’s star is not burning as brightly as it did then, without an appearance in the College Football Play-offs for three consecutive seasons, and with an old-school approach to the transfer portal and NIL that is the antithesis of what Alabama would expect of whoever is leading their program.
Swinney is a legend in his own right. He has won two national championships at Clemson, both at the expense of Saban and Alabama. He has won eight ACC championships and seven of the last nine, reaching the play-offs six consecutive times, and playing in four national championship games during that span. But Swinney has done it his way, and that way puts him in the vast minority of college football and off-putting to the many who view that consternation at Swinney’s outright refusal to adapt to the modern landscape of college football.
In short, Dabo and the Crimson Tide seem more of a mismatch now than they once would have been. There is always a chance, however, and if Swinney made the decision to move on for Clemson then what would be next for the Tigers?
The fact remains that Clemson is one of the premier coaching destinations in the country. Swinney created that reality and proved convincingly that you can win at Clemson. Great coaches would be lined up for a chance to coach the Tigers. If, though, that came to pass, the short term could be rocky.
It would be a certainty that many players would leave Clemson via the portal, likely many to follow Swinney. There would be recruit decommitments, and Dabo would probably take much of his current staff with him to Tuscaloosa. In short, Clemson football would be in for a complete rebuild and in that case, those who have clamored for the use of the transfer portal would see their wish granted under whomever was picked as Swinney’s successor.
At the end of the day, while it is certainly a possibility that has to be considered, Swinney leaving Clemson for Alabama does not seem like a match now. Perhaps it was at one time, but even by the opines of national analysts, that ship has perhaps sailed. Fans would love for Swinney to come right out and say he is not going anywhere. It would alleviate the palpatations felt by the orange-clad faithful right now. But if one wonders what the sentiment toward Swinney is right now in Tuscaloosa, students at the university made it known who they do not want as they gathered outside Bryant Denny Stadium and chanted vociferously “Anyone but Dabo!”
At least if the administration listens to their student body, then Clemson and its fans have nothing to worry about. Either way, the coming days will be watched closely and with much anticipation by both fan bases as the college football world comes to terms with the retirement of one of its giants of the profession.
