I read all the time about coach Dabo Swinney not having the leash that Bowden had. That he’s not going to get 10 years or whatever.
Come on. Given who the athletic director is, what makes you really think this?
That if the losses pile up and no ACC titles are won this year or next that athletic director Terry Don Phillips will, magically, see the writing on the wall and take appropriate action at that time? If you think this, you don’t know TDP.
Well, I don’t know him either. Personally. But we’ve all read plenty about him to know that Swinney is his golden child. And in any workplace, golden children enjoy a high level of job security that is not afforded to others.
If you’ve ever worked for a typical family-owned business, you know what I’m talking about.
Before Swinney was anointed Clemson’s messiah, TDP clearly exuded a rapidly decreasing level of confidence in former coach Tommy Bowden. What began as a head-shaking disappointment in Bowden after Clemson’s Music City Bowl loss to Kentucky in ’06 ended up with TDP being fed up after losing to Alabama, Maryland and Wake Forest in mid ’08. Phillips fired Bowden (let’s face it, Bowden didn’t voluntarily resign) after the Wake loss, which was four years too late, and immediately promoted Swinney to interim head coach, saying Swinney, somehow, would be auditioning for the permanent gig.
All this did was give TDP a path to make Swinney the permanent coach, as it’s clear that Swinney was TDP’s choice all along after Swinney was chosen amid a sham of a national coaching search by TDP where he reportedly interviewed former Oakland Raider head coach and USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster and a few others far more qualified that Swinney. Clearly all Swinney had to do to get the job was what Bowden did - beat South Carolina. And beating a stiflingly mediocre Gamecock program somehow seems to be enough to hire and fire at Clemson. Talk about standards.
“But, but....Danny (Ford) didn’t have any coordinator or head coaching experience before being hired and look how that worked out!”
Really? You really think lightning is going to strike twice for Clemson? But okay, I’ll play - but here’s a difference between pre-head coach Ford and pre-head coach Swinney...
Ford clearly coached up successful offensive lines, as highlighted by the Bostic brothers who went on to much NFL success (Joe was with the then-St. Louis Cardinals while Jeff was one of the legendary Hogs (offensive linemen for the Washington Redskins).
Swinney, on the other hand, has fielded chronically failed receiver corps while being their position coach. Dropped passes, which still haunt Clemson today, were prevalent as early as 2006 under Swinney's watch. Moreover, none of his receivers have really excelled at the next level. Chansi Stuckey, who was cut from the New York Jets soon after Rex Ryan took over, is now with the Cleveland Browns. In his fourth year as pro, he’s never started. Tyler Grisham, who I always liked as I thought he was arguably their most reliable receiver and athletic as hell with some of those crazy catches he made, was cut by the Steelers only to be resigned to the practice squad. Jacoby Ford, who is talented and fast, is third string with Oakland. In short, Clemson’s receivers under Swinney are largely not drafted, and what few are end up third string at best or cut within a year or two.
Unlike Ford’s offensive linemen, Swinney’s receivers are undeveloped and unprepared for the NFL. This is not a shot at Clemson’s former players, they are and were talented men. But even the best players look to their coaches to make them better, and Swinney can’t.
Anyway, because Swinney’s hire was 100 percent hunch on TDP’s part, as there is no measurable reason to justify his promotion, there clearly is a level of office politics going on at Clemson. And where there is politics, you can throw out any logic that would ordinarily apply to a given situation. And Swinney’s hire reeks of politics, period.
Because TDP has hung his hat on Swinney, he will hang on to him as long as he can to prove that he isn’t an idiot. Because to fire Swinney next year or the next will be an admission of failure by TDP. And he is way too foolishly proud to admit failure.
To reiterate, to say that if the losses pile up and no ACC titles are won that TDP will come to his senses, should there be any, admit his mistake and fire Swinney is simply not believable. If winning titles was important, Clemson would have hired an upgrade to Bowden instead of going the cheap and lazy route by promoting a position coach who’s players have historically stunk. So let’s not apply logic and common sense to what goes on at Clemson. It’s tempting but it would be incorrect to do so.
I will say that the only way Swinney will get sacked by TDP is if the boosters put ungodly amounts of pressure on him and threaten to withhold monies and other strong-arming techniques to force change. But one thing I’ll never believe is that TDP will fire Swinney on his own free will, even if the situation demands it.
Outside of booster pressure, as long as TDP is at Clemson Swinney’s going nowhere. So that leash is much longer than you’d think.
