Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney Starting To Prove Himself

Several weeks ago I asked whether Dabo Swinney would succeed as Clemson head coach. Well, through the first two weeks of the 2009 season, I'm starting to believe he can get it done.

What is Swinney doing right?

Let's start with the game with Georgia Tech. Swinney made some poor early decisions. The fake field goal pooch kick resulted in the Jackets scoring on a punt return. Then the Yellow Jackets ran their own field goal trick play where kicker Scott Blair threw a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas against an unprepared Tiger defense. The Yellow Jackets took a 24-7 lead into halftime.

Then the Tiger coaching staff did something that was just a suggestion during the Tommy Bowden years. They made halftime adjustments on both sides of the ball and roared back to take to take a 27-24 lead. To their credit, the Jackets made their own adjustments and quarterback Josh Nesbitt shook off some shaky play to lead two fourth-quarter scoring drives.

Just like that, the Yellow Jackets won, 30-27. In a loss, though, the Tigers showed plenty.

It was Swinney that kept his team believing it could make such a comeback. That is the mark of a good coach. Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson did the same thing in the Athens last year down 28-12 at the half to Georgia, when the Jackets came back to win, 45-42.

It was Swinney that made the solid hire of Kevin Steele as defensive coordinator. I've said this before; I thought that was a great move. In back-to-back games, the Tigers had to prepare for the five-receiver spread offense of Middle Tennessee then come right and face the run-heavy Georgia Tech offense.

Outside of the 82-yard touchdown run by Anthony Allen of the Jackets and the Blair pass, the Tigers defense has been rock solid all year. So far, the Steele hire looks good, and Swinney can obviously rally a team. What about going with Kyle Parker at quarterback?

It was Swinney's decision to go with Parker over Willy Korn. A decision that seemed a little risky at the time. Korn was a popular South Carolina product, while Parker had played more baseball than starting quarterback in the last year. The decision is clearly the right one. Parker has shown a strong arm and has generally made good decisions. Trust me, he's going to be a very good quarterback.

Swinney last year let go of offensive coordinator Rob Spence to hire young Billy Napier. Was it another risky move? The Tigers are averaging nearly 26 points a game since Swinney took over, 32 points through two games this year. They are showing big-play ability by consistently getting the ball into the hands of play makers in running back C.J. Spiller and wide reciever Jacoby Ford.

Clemson has 18 verbal commitments, so recruiting isn't suffering either. Every Tiger commit but one is a top-100 player at his position.

Swinney still has long way to go, but the early returns are positive. I'd be very surprised if the Tigers aren't right in the thick of the Atlantic division race the rest of this season.

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