Dabo Swinney will join ACC Network’s pregame coverage of Saturday’s ACC Championship Game as a guest analyst for Duke-Virginia at Bank of America Stadium.
Swinney will appear on ACC Huddle’s two-hour pregame show starting at 6 p.m. alongside hosts Taylor Tannebaum, Eric Mac Lain, and Eddie Royal. The game kicks off at 8 p.m. on ABC and ACC Network with Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath, and Taylor McGregor on the call.
And Swinney will immediately find himself in an interesting spot, given that Virginia head coach Tony Elliott spent 11 years on his staff at Clemson, including six as offensive coordinator. Elliott was the primary play caller for two national championship teams and won the Broyles Award as college football’s top assistant before taking the Virginia job in December 2021.
Swinney famously went to bat for Elliott during his viral October 2023 radio show rant when Tyler from Spartanburg questioned his salary and criticized his internal hires.
“When I hired Tony Elliott to be the offensive coordinator, who never called a play in his life, I’m sure you were critical then,” Swinney told the caller. “And he took us to two national championships.”
Elliott has Virginia in the ACC title game for the first time since 2019, capping a 10-2 regular season. Duke returns to the championship for the first time since 2013 after going 7-5 overall and 6-2 in ACC play.
The pregame show will give Swinney a chance to talk up what Elliott’s done at Virginia without having to worry about facing him. Clemson’s out of the ACC title picture for the first time in a decade, so Swinney gets to play analyst while his former coordinator chases a championship.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.