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If Clemson coach Dabo Swinney wants love and respect, he should fix Florida mess
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- If Clemson coach Dabo Swinney wants love and respect, he should fix Florida mess
Dabo Swinney is talking about a lack of respect again , and if Clemson doesn't like it, they can fire him.
"If Clemson's tired of winning, they can send me on my way," Swinney said Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
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I have a better idea for Dabo: if he doesn't like the criticism of his championship-level program, or the lack of trophies since he last won it all seven years ago, quit and take a bigger bite of the apple.
Go clean up the mess at Florida .
Pack your bags and bring your own guts to Gainesville, where the once mighty Gators haven't been worth spit since 2020 — and haven't won the SEC since 2008.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney prepares to run on the field with his team before its game against Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field in Atlanta.
Where the glory of Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer ended long ago, when Swinney was – ready for this? – the plucky wide receivers coach at Clemson that then-athletic director Terry Don Phillips made interim coach after Tommy Bowden was forced out.
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Yeah, that long ago.
From interim coach, to arguably the game's best in 2018, to publicly calling out anyone who questions the state of the program, Swinney has come full circle at Clemson. Only this time, the sideshow of Tyler from Spartanburg isn't around to deflect a perceived lack of appreciation that has become a thorn in his side.
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Clemson can get rid of him, but that doesn't mean he's done.
"I'm going to go somewhere and coach," Swinney said. "I ain't going to to the beach. Hell, I'm 55. I've got a long way to go."
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If he's going, he's going big — directly into the arms of the one thing that could convince him to walk away from the kingdom he built in the Lowcountry: returning home to the SEC.
Swinney grew up in the heart of the SEC, in Pelham, Alabama, and his story is as inspiring as it is foretelling. His alcoholic father lost the family's appliance repair business, and Swinney would sleep on the roof when his father came home drunk.
He was a walk-on wide receiver at Alabama, and became the first from his family to go to college. Had his mom staying with him for two years because she had no place to live.
You think the current noise at Clemson, or nearly two decades of a lost program at Florida, is going to intimidate this rags to riches life learner?
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Earlier this year, Swinney was inducted into the inaugural class of the Pelham High School Hall of Fame. You better believe he was there to accept the award.
"I've experienced a lot of life, but everything for me comes back to Pelham," Swinney told the audience in late January. "I'm very intentional when people ask me where I'm from. Every time I come back here, it doesn't matter how far removed I am, it feels like yesterday."
Now it can be tomorrow in the SEC, at a flagship school in the conference that can't stop tripping over itself when hiring coaches.
Florida won national titles with two larger-than-life personalities as coaches. Two men who could galvanize a passionate fan base, and convince a cautious pool of deep-pocket boosters to go all-in.
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Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer won big at Florida, Ron Zook, Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen did not. Then there's current coach Billy Napier, whose flagpole moment in four years is recruiting current quarterback DJ Lagway.
The current struggling Gators quarterback – more interceptions (six) than 128 Bowl Subdivision programs – who kept Napier employed after last year's roller coaster season. Even Lagway can't help Napier now.
Swinney wouldn't be intimidated by Spurrier's shadow, or Meyer's aura. Or by an unreasonable Florida fanbase.
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He'd be walking into a Florida job at its lowest point since Spurrier arrived in 1990, a program desperate for a dynamic and charismatic personality. He'd immediately give the Gators a coach who has proven, year after year, to get the most out of his roster.
A coach who has 18 wins vs. the SEC since 2012, including two victories against Alabama in the national championship game, and defeats of Georgia, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M and South Carolina.
He'd be walking into a program with a stocked roster organically built by Napier through high school recruiting, but one he has been unable to consistently direct.
Florida wouldn't be getting a career assistant coach, or the wrong former Nick Saban assistant, or a fallback choice or the best the Sun Belt Conference can offer.
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It would be getting one of the best coaches in the game — with everything to prove again.
"All we've done is win," Swinney said. "Take your shots. I've got a long memory."
Pack your bags, Dabo. And bring your guts to Gainesville.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: If Dabo Swinney leaves Clemson, Florida would be perfect answer
