The disrespect being shown from some Alabama fans towards Dabo Swinney is insane

With Alabama coach Nick Saban retiring, Dabo Swinney has the best resume in college football. Sure, you can make a case for Kirby Smart — the only other active coach with two national championships — but Swinney’s run of consistency at Clemson over the past 15 years is behind only Saban in recent history.

Swinney led a Clemson program that hadn’t won a national title in 35 years to two in three years, including a 44-16 beatdown of a loaded Crimson Tide team in 2018.

He is an elite recruiter who has been criticized by some for using caution when it comes to relying on NIL to lure in top prospects. Yet Clemson has signed at least one five-star recruit in every class dating back to 2013. That includes going to Alabama and landing the top prospect in the state in Peter Woods for 2023 and beating Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs for Georgia native Sammy Brown in the class of 2024.

The Clemson program is viewed as “down” after the past three seasons by some — three years where the Tigers averaged 10 wins, won an ACC championship and were a one-point loss to rival South Carolina away from likely reaching the College Football Playoff.

But in reality, here’s what you need to know about Swinney and the Clemson program:

• Swinney has gone outside of the Clemson facility for his last three hires, bringing in highly-regarded coaches Garrett Riley, Matt Luke and Chris Rumph.
• Clemson has a portion of its facility devoted entirely to NIL, which helps to recruit top prospects and keep them on campus once they get there. Swinney is a big believer in NIL but prioritizes relationships, development and other factors over promising money to recruits.
• The Tigers have attempted to bring in players in the transfer portal without much success but are much more active than is perceived. Swinney even went as far as to say that if he inherited the situation Deion Sanders did at Colorado, he would use the portal to quickly improve his roster.
• Clemson likely has at least one more College Football Playoff appearance over the past three years with more consistent quarterback play.
• The Tigers led all of Power 5 last year in snaps by freshmen, with four freshman All-Americans leading the way.
• Clemson had the No. 8 defense nationally in 2023, despite relying heavily on true freshmen TJ Parker, Khalil Barnes and Avieon Terrell.

Dabo Swinney has proven himself to be an elite coach time and time again. He did so even this past season when Clemson got off to a 4-4 start and appeared to be headed for a disastrous season. However, the Tigers righted the ship with five straight wins to close the season as Swinney’s strong culture flexed its muscles.

Add in the fact that Swinney is from Alabama, played at Alabama, coached at Alabama and loves Alabama, and you would think that Crimson Tide fans would be begging the 54-year-old to come home.

Instead, the opposite is happening.

A portion of the Alabama fanbase has been very vocal about not wanting Swinney in Tuscaloosa, not only on social media but even in front of Bryant-Denny Stadium, where an “anyone but Dabo” chant broke out Wednesday night.

Clemson and Alabama are the only programs in the country with current streaks of at least 13 consecutive seasons with nine-plus wins, but Alabama fans seem way more enamored with coaches who have accomplished far less than Swinney but are viewed as hot and up and coming.

I don’t know if Dabo Swinney would leave for Alabama or how interested Crimson Tide AD Greg Byrne would be in hiring him. But I do know that it’s disrespectful to be so outspokenly negative about one of your own, who happens to have the best resume of any college football coach in the country.

Swinney has been criticized in recent years for not adapting, and the narrative about his downward spiral has taken on a life of its own.

You can make the argument that Swinney has made mistakes in recent years that have led to Clemson taking a step back, but Swinney is also as competitive as they come and is adapting, even if it’s not as quickly as some would like.

Swinney has proven that he can build and maintain a winning culture, is an elite motivator and gameday coach and gets the best out of his teams and players.

It remains to be seen if Dabo Swinney will end up at Alabama or if the pushback from Crimson Tide fans will have any impact on decision makers in Tuscaloosa or on Swinney’s end.

Whether Dabo Swinney does remain at Clemson or ends up going back to Alabama, I expect he’ll have plenty of more success over the next 15 years. You don’t luck up and win two national titles, reach the College Football Playoff six straight seasons and sustain 13 consecutive years of 9 or more wins.

If Swinney does indeed stay at Clemson, don’t be surprised if he leads the Tigers to another national title in the not too distant future and is quick to remind everyone that some Alabama fans wanted “anyone but Dabo.”