Dabo Swinney talks new additions, changes to Clemson coaching staff

Clemson’s football coaching staff has seen a lot of turnover under head coach Dabo Swinney this offseason. The Tigers have replaced their offensive and defensive coordinators, and there has been shuffling throughout the staff from top to bottom.

Former Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is the new head coach at Duke, while former defensive coordinator Brent Venables took the Oklahoma head coaching gig. Brandon Streeter is the Tigers’ new offensive coordinator. Wes Goodwin is Clemson’s defensive coordinator, while Mickey Conn also holds a co-defensive coordinator title.

Despite all of the changes on Clemson’s staff, Swinney is confident that the team is in a good position as preparations begin for next season.

“As far as our staff goes, I know we’ve got a lot of different roles and guys being promoted and different responsibilities, new people coming in. It’s been a lot of fun and everybody’s gotten settled in,” Swinney said of Clemson’s staff changes. “I really am thankful that we had the bowl game to kind of get in the fray a little bit with some game day stuff with our staff.

“And then obviously since the bowl game, we’ve had kind of getting everybody settled int he right spots. Bringing Nick in here, what a great addition he is for us. And transitioning with Thomas and Robbie. So the staff’s in a good spot. I really like the roles and how we are settled in and ready to go.”

Despite some struggles this season, Clemson still turned in a 10-3 2021 season. The Tigers ended the season with a 20-13 victory over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Swinney announces one more change to Clemson’s staff

When addressing Clemson’s staff changes, Swinney also said that Clemson’s longtime director of sports medicine, Danny Poole, is transitioning into a new role. He will be stepping back from his role, although Swinney said that Poole will continue working with Clemson in some capacity.

“We do have one more change that’s going to be coming,” Swinney added. “There’s nothing bad about it, but it’s always bittersweet when there’s transition. But Danny Poole, who most of y’all know, Danny has been at Clemson for almost 40 years. I have been with Danny for 19 of those years. He’s been our trainer and I guess he’s been the head trainer here for 22 years. And man, I’m just so thankful and appreciative of him.

“But he’s made the decision that this is the time to kind of transition. He’s retiring from being the full-time trainer, but he still wants to serve Clemson. He’s gonna transition into a different role for Graham and football and our athletic department in general. But I’m happy for him. We’ve got a lot of construction going on under there, and I think he’s in a good spot and really feels like this is the right time to transition. But I will say this: Man, I’m thankful for Danny Poole.”