Could the Clemson Tigers make this move to replace head coach Dabo Swinney?
Dabo Swinney is now entering his 18th full season as Clemson Tigers head coach, and his seat is starting to get warmer.
Clemson went just 7-6 last season, marking the team's worst finish since going 6-7 during Swinney's second full campaign at the helm in 2010.
The Tigers have also not won a playoff game since 2019, and they've posted three straight seasons of four or more losses after having not registered a single four-loss showing between 2012 and 2022.
So, could Swinney potentially lose his job relatively soon?
There has been considerable buzz that Swinney's days at Clemson could be numbered, and Ralph D. Russo of The Athletic has gone as far to name SMU's Rhett Lashlee as his potential replacement.
“This is a complicated time to assess both Swinney and Clemson, with the program coming off its worst season in almost two decades,” Russo wrote. “Lashlee seems like a perfect fit, but there is a very real question about whether Clemson would be a clear upgrade from SMU for him.”
Now, the qualifier here is that this prediction was for 2030, and Russo did not specify when Lashlee would be supplanting Swinney in his prediction.
Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney with SMU Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee. Credit: Ken Ruinard-GREENVILLE NEWS-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images.But if the Tigers continue at their current trajectory, you have to figure that a move will be made within the next two or three years.
Barring a catastrophic 2026 campaign, Swinney probably isn't getting fired after next season. He's secured too much goodwill with the program thanks to his two national championships and four National Championship Game appearances ... not to mention that his buyout is around $57 million.
However, if Clemson continues its downturn for the next couple of years, you do have to imagine that the Tigers will strongly consider going in another direction. Heck, maybe Swinney himself will step down.
Swinney has done a tremendous job building the program. Clemson was a decent football school under Tommy Bowden, but Swinney has elevated the Tigers to the next level. The man led the team to 11 straight double-digit win seasons at one point.
But Swinney's archaic roster-building methods are becoming more and more problematic in this new NIL era, and Clemson has fallen behind as a result.
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