Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney were rivals on the sidelines, but the former Alabama coach stepped up to defend the embattled Clemson coach on Saturday amid rumors he might want to leave his longtime post.
Swinney turned the Tigers into a national powerhouse, winning two national titles along the way. However, it’s been seven seasons since that last title, and Dabo’s 18th year at the helm is likely to be his least successful since 2010. Clemson is 3-5 heading into the weekend and seems unlikely to end up with a winning record.
While some have said Clemson needs to move on from Swinney, who is seen as behind the times in the modern college football ecosystem, reports suggest the longtime coach might make the first move instead. NBC Sports’ John Fanta recently suggested Swinney could pull a John Calipari, who left Kentucky for Arkansas as a way to renew his career amid hot-seat discussions.
For his part, Saban doesn’t seem to buy it.
“It would surprise me,” said Saban on College GameDay. “In my conversation with him, he never mentioned that. He was totally focused on what his team needs to do to have success.”
Saban did say that Clemson’s season has been more disappointing than Florida State’s, as the two ACC rivals get ready to battle one another. The Tigers were ranked highly heading into the year.
“Clemson, because they were ranked higher to start with. Florida State was ranked. Both teams are having a disappointing season,” said Saban. “I think he really has the right approach because every obstacle has an opportunity to learn and people can grow from it. He really wants to see how his team finishes the season, responds, learns from all the adversity they’ve had to overcome this season.”
It does seem unlikely that Swinney would want to start fresh elsewhere, especially when the same NIL and transfer portal situations he seems to have an issue with would exist there as well. However, in a season with a shocking number of high-profile coach firings already, it’s not unthinkable that the school might try to move forward before it gets left behind any further.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.