Graham Neff comments on connection to Dabo Swinney amidst Alabama's coaching search

Dabo Swinney has been in Clemson for a decade and a half and brought a ton of success in the span. However, there was always one job that some felt would be an obvious fit for him if he were ever to leave the Tigers.

That job became available in Tuscaloosa this offseason once Nick Saban decided to retire at Alabama. Yet, in the end, Swinney, whether a true candidate or not, stayed put as the head coach at Clemson. That commitment to remain where he was was something that Tiger AD Graham Neff felt spoke volumes about him and their program.

“It was just a great testament to Clemson,” Neff said to Chapel Fowler at ‘The State’ at a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Neff made it clear that the subject had come up between him and Swinney following the news regarding Saban back in early January. Still, after all that he’d done accomplished with Clemson, it was something that he wasn’t yet ready to leave behind.

“It’s something that Dabo and I talked a lot about while that transition (at Alabama) was happening,” Neff recalled.

“He has a long memory in a good way. He’s going on his 16th year and 20 years at Clemson. That support that Clemson has shown him and Clemson football over these two decades? That adds up and that matters,” said Neff. “That really resonates with him and with us.”

Over 16 seasons at Clemson, Swinney is 170-43 (.798) with a bowl appearance in every season. That run includes eight wins in nine appearances in the ACC Championship. It also features six straight appearances from 2015 to 2020 in the College Football Playoff with 10 wins. Two of those victories were in the national championship, with both, ironically, coming versus ‘Bama, in 2016 and 2018.

Even so, Swinney’s relationship with the Crimson Tide is a well-documented one. After being born in Birmingham, he’d go on to play for Alabama for three seasons from 1990 to 1992. He then coached in various roles for their program over eight seasons from 1993 to 2000.

Still, even with the opportunity opening up for the first time since 2007, it didn’t end up moving Swinney away. That’s all the Neff needed to know when it came to his football team’s head coach and his commitment to a place that he will remain at moving forward.

“Couldn’t view a better fit for Clemson Football than Dabo Swinney. And, quite frankly, couldn’t view a better fit for Dabo Swinney than Clemson University,” Neff said. “I think that inflection point there really, really proved that.”