Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is no stranger to criticism, even with his historic track record as one of the best coaches of the modern era of college football.
Even when considering the last three seasons, which are seen as down years for Swinney as the Tigers failed to make the College Football Playoff, the head coach has still led Clemson to seasons of 10 wins, 10 wins, and 9 wins. By most standards, these so-called down years are quite impressive and highlight Swinney’s consistent excellence in coaching.
Even with the long history of success, criticisms still come. Former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, the Tigers’ head coach from 1998 to 2008 warned Tigers’ fans of being too critical of Swinney during his appearence on OutKick Hot Mic.
“Well, that’s kind of the way, unfortunately, the way this profession is,” Bowden said. “And I thought you saw a little bit of frustration with Dabo. He set the standard really, really high, and he was just I think in making some criticism.
“But with what they get paid nowadays, I think you’re going to see a lot of what’s just happening with five coaches from college football either taking coordinator roles – Chip Kelly at Ohio State, and then the guy at Buffalo and the guy at South Alabama going to Alabama – the guy at BC going to be the defensive coordinator in the NFL. So, they need to be careful if they get on him too much, because he’ll take off. He’s got plenty of money.”
While I don’t see this happening any time soon, we do have to acknowledge it can be a possibility. This is coming from a guy who knows Swinney well, as he hired him to join the program.
“When I hired him, Dabo wasn’t in coaching. He got out of coaching,” Bowden said. “He was out of coaching two years when I hired him, and I caught a little bit of criticism because (they said), ‘Hey, you can hire anybody you want to at Clemson, why are you hiring a guy that’s out of coaching?’
“So, he’s had a taste of civilian life, per se, and with this transfer portal, it wouldn’t surprise me if he says, ‘Hey, I can do other things, I’ve done other things.’ And he’s going to have a statue and be in everything you can do at Clemson to be in – Ring of Honor, statue and all that stuff, he’ll have. But they have a short fuse there. I went 9-3 and signed a seven-year contract. Six months later, I was gone. So, they have a short leash.”
Clemson will look to make a return to the College Football Playoff in 2024 with the expanded 12-team playoff.