cc: Dabo Swinney

Submitted by Blueinsconsin on

Dabo Swinney, 44 years old

Head Coach - Clemson (2008-present)

57-25 overall record, 3-3 in Bowl Games (1 Orange Bowl win in 2014)

2011 ACC Championship, 2011 Bobby Dodd winner

All of his coaching experience has been at two schools - Alabama under Mike DuBose and Clemson under Tommy Bowden before taking over the HC position in the middle of the 2008 season.  Swinney's first full season as head football coach the team went 9-5, 2010 they dropped to 6-7, but then saw a climb to 10-4 in 2011, followed by back-to-back 11-2 season in 2012 and 2013.  Currently the Tigers are 6-2 with losses to Georgia and Florida State.  

Here's how his total offense/defenes have ranked:

'09: 37th O / 46th D

'10: 82nd O / 18th D

'11: 16th O / 100th D

'12: 8th O / 74th D

'13: 12th O / 29th D

'14: 70th O / 2nd D (season obviously not complete)

As for recruiting (per Rivals) his 2009 class was 37th in the country followed by the 19th in 2010, 8th in 2011, 14th in 2012, 14th in 2013 and 13th in 2014.  Clemson currently has the #2 class in the nation with two 5 stars and nine 4 stars (21 total commits) 

Swinney's entire career has been in the South, so it would seem hard to be able to pull him to Michigan, but maybe opening the checkbook could sway him up North.  He currently earns $3.3mil while Hoke is at $4.3 (per coacheshotseat.com).  Despite not having ties to Michigan, he seems like a candidate I would like to see the school go after or at the very least, reach out to.  Not a flashy candidate, but seems like a coach who will put his teams in the top 25 every year and keep them contended year in and year out.  Thoughts?

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tolmichfan

November 6th, 2014 at 11:01 PM ^

Michigan has a QB coming off a broken foot the other foot has a high ankle sprain, and can't throw the ball down field ( possible shoulder issue ala henne's senior year.. Complete speculation). We are on our 3rd and 4th string running backs. Oh and by the way Kalis started the season with a back injury Mags has a bad ankle, Funchess has had a high ankle sprain since ND, and Chesson has missed significant time lately. Injuries are obviously not an excuse. /s

Joined: 11/26/2010

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rjhucks

November 6th, 2014 at 10:26 PM ^

Is this a joke? I don't want to be Clemson.

I mean, Clemsoning is a verb now, and it's not a good thing.

 

ETA: Who wouldn't win a crapload of games in the ACC? And he's never beaten South Carolina, has he?

Joined: 08/25/2011

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gwkrlghl

November 6th, 2014 at 10:24 PM ^

He's made Clemson pretty respectable, but theres a reason "Clemsoning" is a term so widely known that it's used by publications as prominent as the Washington Post.

They are always good, never great. And they just perpetually choke in the spotlight. We can do better.

Joined: 04/13/2012

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Salinger

November 7th, 2014 at 8:45 AM ^

Always good, never great. Kind of like Michi... oooooo. 

In all seriousness though, even Dabo, the Kind of Clemsoning, would be an upgrade to the HC we have currently. Amiright?

Don't get me wrong. Its hi  time for Harbaugh (Harbaugh: 2015!!) but of all the names that have been floated out there (Todd Graham?? Greg Schiano??????) Dabo is not the craziest.

Joined: 01/11/2011

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btn

November 6th, 2014 at 10:25 PM ^

Swinney record at Clemson before hiring Chad Morris as OC 19-15

Swinney record at Clemson after hiring Chad Morris as OC 38-10

 

If you are fan of what Clemson has done over the past 3-4 years, the guy you want is Chad Morris not Dabo Swinney.
 

Joined: 09/21/2014

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Blueinsconsin

November 7th, 2014 at 9:04 AM ^

extremely sarcastic about my response to the Harbaugh post....

I'm not sure if you've seen some of the cc posts or not, but a lot of them are completely unrealistic.  They are fun to put together and get you thinking about other coaches.  Swinney is a good coach that has his program heads and shoulders above where Michigan is at this point.  I would take what Clemson has from 2007-present compared to what Michigan has given me 2007-present.  That being said, obviously I want a coach like Harbaugh or a guy who can make an instant splash, but I'm pretty sure making a cc post, realistic or not, is a bad thing.

Joined: 08/24/2011

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Wolverine Devotee

November 6th, 2014 at 10:27 PM ^

Seems legit since today is the 4 year (!) anniversary of 67-65. 65 is still less than what Dabo's team have ever given up, though.

Joined: 06/29/2009

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SalvatoreQuattro

November 6th, 2014 at 10:29 PM ^

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haiku

November 6th, 2014 at 10:36 PM ^

As an SC native, no. First, he's an average coach; he does hire great assistants, though. Second, he wouldn't take the job. He loves Clemson and I'm not sure he would leave for any school other than Alabama. Third, he wouldn't fit at Michigan. It would be worse than Rodriguez's experience. Swinney is a "good ol' boy" and would get run out of Ann Arbor.


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Joined: 07/09/2009

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AMazinBlue

November 6th, 2014 at 10:48 PM ^

Les Miles is the best option in the SEC. 1. He'd take it. 2. He's a better recruiter than anyone but Saban in the SEC and he's better than anyone else in the SEC at beating Saban.  Miles is a great coach and if Harbaugh doesn't want it, Miles WILL take it.  So just stop with the crazy, any coach down south crap.

Joined: 10/12/2008

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Wolverine Devotee

November 6th, 2014 at 11:08 PM ^

Hmmm 7-6, 8-5, 7-6 in the SEC.

Those records seem very familiar. Difference is, Michigan is playing the sorry B1G. 

Yeah. We're gonna have a losing season in the worst of the Power 5 conferences. 

I'd take Les over Hoke. I'd take canned yams over Hoke. But I MUCH rather have Mullen. It's Mississippi State. #1? There? In that division of that conference?

Joined: 06/29/2009

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turd ferguson

November 6th, 2014 at 11:25 PM ^

Dan Mullen was 2-21 against ranked teams prior to this season (with 14 straight losses).  Even with a program like Mississippi State in a conference like the SEC, that's not good.  And those overall records are misleading because of how terrible MSU's nonconference opponents are most years (e.g., this year they play Southern MIss, UAB, South Alabama and UT Martin).

What he's done this year is outstanding, and he's a really good candidate for our job because of it.  But he needs to be looked at very carefully, because it's not yet clear whether he is building an excellent program or just caught lightning in a bottle in the first eight games of this season.

There's a tendency on this board to evaluate a guy's candidacy entirely by how is team is performing at this exact moment.  We've even had threads about how possible candidates' profiles changed based on the past Saturday's games.  That strikes me as a very bad way to hire a coach, especially when most of the hot coaches this second will likely regress to the mean next year.

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Wolverine Devotee

November 6th, 2014 at 11:43 PM ^

The second best team in this conference lost at home by double digits to a Virginia Tech team that isn't exactly...........good.

Virginia Tech is 4-5. Here are their losses

  • East Carolina (at home)
  • Georgia Tech (at home)
  • Pittsburgh (road)
  • Miami (30-6 at home!)
  • Boston College (at home)

Virginia Tech would probably beat us by double digits. As would most of the ACC outside of Wake Forest and NC State.

Yes. Duke would blow us out. In football. 

 

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