Will Coach Dabo Swinney Succeed At Clemson?

In recent years the ACC has undergone several changes at the head coach position. Gone are the maddeningly inconsistent coaches like Tommy Bowden, Chuck Amato, Jim Bunting, and Chan Gailey.

Here come the new guys the last 3 years.

Butch Davis (North Carolina Head Coach): Returned the Miami Hurricanes to prominence in the early part of this decade, and coached the NFL's Cleveland Browns.

Paul Johnson (Georgia Tech Head Coach): He won 2 Division I-AA titles at Georgia Southern, and gave Navy it's best years of football since Roger Staubach was playing quarterback.

Tom O' Brien (North Carolina State Head Coach): He took Boston College to eight straight Bowl Games.

David Cutcliffe (Duke Head Coach): Only had one losing season in six years as Head Coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. He coached both Manning brothers.

Randy Shannon (Miami Head Coach): Was defensive coordinator at Miami for 6 seasons. Only one time did his defenses finish outside the top 10. In 2001 he won the Broyles award, given the nations best assistant coach.

Frank Spaziani (Boston College Head Coach): From 1999-2008 was BC's defensive coordinator consistently producing top 25 defenses.

Dabo Swinney (Clemson Head Coach): He coached wide receivers and was the recruiting coordinator for the Clemson Tigers.

One of these coaches doesn't sound like the others. Dabo Swinney at first glance appears to be a questionable hire. He certainly doesn't have the pedigree of the other recent ACC coaching hires. Clemson University, with its passionate fans, isn't a place to learn on the job, either.

At only 39 years of age, does Swinney does he even have enough experience to lead a program like Clemson? Is he in over his head? Maybe, but maybe not...

In a 2008 season that went terribly wrong for the pre-season ACC favorite, Clemson was 3-3 coming off an ugly loss at Wake Forest, and Tommy Bowden had just resigned (was let go).

Georgia Tech and its high-powered triple option offense were coming to Death Valley, then the Tigers were at Florida State, then at Boston College. They were staring right at a 3-6 start, and a possible four win season. Talk about pressure, this was probably Swinney's only chance to get a look as head coach as well.

I went to the Clemson vs Georgia Tech game, and what Swinney did that week was gimmicky—the Tiger Walk, the chest bumps, the "All In" theme his first few weeks—but it gave Clemson its best chance to win.

With no real time to prepare for the Jackets' offense, Clemson would have to win on pure emotion. Swinney managed to get a near sellout in Death Valley; it was loud and it was emotional, and the Tigers nearly won.

The Tigers won four of their next five games to get a Gator Bowl invite, and maybe there was something to this guy. Clemson thought so and hired him.

Swinney made one particularly good move in the offseason, and got one great gift.

First, he hired defensive coordinator Kevin Steele out of Alabama. I loved this move. Steele has been part of big time college football since the 1980s. He was member of the Tom Osborne's Nebraska staff that won the national title in 1994.

He was head coach at Baylor. He's been an assistant coach at places like Florida State, Tennessee, and Oklahoma St. Steele will be valuable resource for the young coach.

The great gift Swinney got was the return of talented running back C.J. Spiller to build his offense around. Spiller is the kind of player that takes pressure off any head coach. This is some good fortune for Swinney, but what is Clemson going to look like as a football team?

For one, recruiting doesn't seem to have slipped. Always known a solid recruiter, Clemson has got commitments from eight players since the middle of July, and 15 players overall.

What else is there?

If you ask Clemson fans, the prevailing thought is the Tigers will be tougher and more physical. Bowden's Tigers were known more as a finesse team. Swinney started last season by employing a three-point stance for his offensive lineman, allowing them to get off the ball better.

In the spring game, there was more power I than I've seen from Clemson in recent years, and less of use of the shotgun and spread offense. The primary offense was still the spread, but it was subtle change.

I was at the game, and didn't notice any decline in the team play. I thought it was possible the Tigers would look sloppy and undisciplined. I didn't see that at all. They looked every bit a well-coached squad.

I came away thinking, I don't believe that the Tigers will regress under Swinney.

I can't say for sure if he can take the Tigers to that elusive ACC title, but they won't be any worse. I expect they will continue to be at they very least a consistent seven or eight win team.

We'll see how Swinney performs now that's he's the man at Clemson.