Swinney will get the job done

By: Will Vandervort

Okay, I have seen it posted on some of the message boards where some guys question whether Dabo Swinney is the man to take Clemson to the next level.

Some say his mottos, like “All-in” are cheesy. Some even made fun of his fantasy camp, which for the record I thought was a great idea and had a good time covering it.

Some question his leadership skills and some say he is all talk. Some look at his background, and say “how can he be a head coach when he wasn’t even a coordinator?”

I can understand Clemson fans' concerns. They have a right to be. The football program has not produced an ACC Championship since 1991.

But what I can’t understand is this thinking that Swinney can’t get the job done at Clemson.

Why? I want to know where this thinking comes from.

If anyone has read the story of Dabo Swinney and his life to this point, the one thing they should take away from it – this guy gets the job done.

Go look at his track record. He was an A-student in high school despite playing three sports and dealing with serious family issues at home, and keep in mind he was still trying to be a teenager.

He somehow worked his way to the University of Alabama – his dream at the time – to attend school. Despite those that said there was no way he could make it or could find the funds to attend college, he made it happen.

“I always worked to go to Alabama,” he said. “That was my first goal. I got Pell grants and student loans and that’s how I made it.

“I was going to be a doctor. I majored in biology and was going to make something of myself. I wanted a better life.”

When he decided to walk on to the football team at Alabama people laughed at him and coaches said they doubted he could make the team. What did he do? He made the team.

When he said he was going to earn a scholarship and was going to play instead of just being a punching bag for the starters, again people doubted him. What did he do? He played and he won a national championship by doing it.

When he decided he was going to be a coach at Alabama, he became one of the best young assistants in the country.

Even off the field Swinney has got the job done. In high school and in college, he cleaned gutters to make some extra money. What did he do? He became the best gutter cleaner he could be – he always had jobs lined up.

While staying at Alabama and working out in the summer, Swinney took on a job as a door-to-door salesman for a knife and kitchen company. What did he do? He became one of the company’s top salesmen and was honored for such.

After leaving Alabama in 2000, Swinney got involved in commercial real estate at AIG Baker. What did he do?

“I made more money than I had ever made in my life while I was there,” Swinney said.

But something was missing and when Tommy Bowden called, he decided to take the job at Clemson. People thought he was crazy to get back in coaching, but Swinney missed it. He wanted to make a difference.

“I missed coaching football,” he said. “I mean (AIG) was a good job, but I didn’t feel like I was making a difference with kids and stuff. Sure I was coaching little league, teaching at clinics and going to speaking engagements, and I had my children, but I missed coaching.

“I had coached too long and I had too much knowledge in my head. I was almost a coordinator when I was 30 years old, but I turned that job down to stay at Alabama. I knew I still wanted to coach, but it would have to be at the right time, with the right coach, the right staff and the right school.”

After joining the Clemson staff, Swinney was out to prove he made the right choice. He instantly became a difference maker as Clemson’s wide receivers coach – coaching an All-ACC first-team receiver each year as the position coach – while becoming one of the top recruiters in the country.

Then last year came. No one gave Clemson a shot to do anything after the school fired Tommy Bowden at midseason. I heard some say; “the Tigers would not win another game.” But Swinney again proved he can get the job done.

There are those out there that say he isn’t a proven coach. Hello! If getting your team to go 4-2 when all else seemed lost than I don’t know what a proven coach is.

By the way, I’m not counting the Georgia Tech game because having less than three days to prepare for a team with all that was going on you can’t really count that. Clemson University should be charged with that loss. And even with all that, Clemson nearly won that game.

Also, keep in mind he led Clemson to wins at Boston College and at Virginia, places the Tigers had not played well in past years. Then he beat Steve Spurrier and South Carolina with the pressure of trying to avoid being the first Clemson team not to be bowl eligible or have a winning record for the first time in 10 years.

If that’s not a proven coach, I don’t know what is.

As for those that question whether Swinney should have been hired since he was never a coordinator. What does that have to do with anything? Danny Ford was the offensive line coach and was never a coordinator before he got hired. I think he did fairly well, right?

Frank Howard was never a coordinator. I think he did okay, right?

Like Howard and Ford before him, Swinney seems to understand it’s who he surrounds himself with that will make or break him as a head coach. Like Ford did, he has compiled a staff that has a good mix of youth with age and experience to build. Each member of the staff brings a little bit of something to the table.

And also like Ford, most of the experience on Swinney’s staff is on the defensive side of the ball. And that my friend is no consistence.

There is no doubt in my mind that Dabo Swinney will get the job done at Clemson. His history says he will.