Josh Pate details his pursuit of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney for his podcast, revealing why the "white whale" has remained elusive and his decision to stop extending the invitation.
Josh Pate has landed some big guests over the recent years for his "Josh Pate's College Football Show" podcast.
Probably the host's biggest catch was President Donald Trump, who joined Pate for a podcast released on Sunday where the two talked about the future of college sports.
Still, Pate has not been able to land every guest he wants.
During his podcast, Pate said he had to stop inviting Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney to do his speaker series because the Tigers won't respond. Pate doesn't want to look desperate.
"I always have to write down Dabo Swinney because we stopped asking Dabo to come on the Speaker Series, but he still always has an open invitation," Pate said.
"We just, I don't want to beg anyone because the way it typically works is, we announce on the show we're doing the Speaker Series, and then everyone reaches out and we mutually line up dates. Well, Clemson's never reached out to us."
It's curious why Clemson wouldn't want to have Swinney do the popular show. Frankly, given where the program is with recruiting, it would be smart of Clemson to get Pate to promote Swinney on the show.
Pate said he's reached out to Swinney directly, but nothing has come from the conversations. He called the Clemson head coach a "white whale" for his series.
"I've reached out to Clemson because I'd love to have Dabo," Pate said. "I'd love to go over there. I'd love to sit down with him. We kind of talked a couple of times but it never happened, and now I just stopped reaching out.”
“But I still love to have Dabo because he's our white whale. We've never had him on the show. So Bobby Bowden, Knute Rockne, Keith Jackson, Dabo. What a foursome there."
It's an opportunity Swinney should consider this offseason when Clemson is done with spring football.
He's known for giving fiery news conferences. Pate's podcast would give Swinney a platform to talk about issues in college football like NIL and the transfer portal, two issues Swinney has brought up repeatedly in recent years.