Clemson got absolutely hammered by LSU on Saturday, and let’s be crystal clear: any lingering hope of Dabo Swinney ever taking the head coaching job at Alabama in the post-Nick Saban era evaporated. It’s done. Finished. People in the college football industry have wondered for ages if “Mama” would call Dabo home to Tuscaloosa, but after that noncompetitive beatdown, it seems abundantly obvious he’s removed himself from that conversation completely.
That LSU Disaster Was a Disqualifier
Let’s just be honest, the reality of Clemson’s game against LSU was not pretty. It was noncompetitive. We’re talking nolo contendere, no contest. LSU put up roughly 500 more yards than Clemson, with nearly 240 of those being rushing yards. This thing was over by halftime. It wasn’t just a loss, it was a total bloodbath. Think about it, losing by one point to Lane Kiffin, sure, that would sting. But losing by 41 points to Lane Kiffin? Forty-one! That’s the kind of embarrassing, completely lopsided performance Alabama fans and boosters are going to look at and definitively view as disqualifying for their Crimson Tide head coaching job. You can’t expect the best program in the country to settle for that.
Dabo’s Old School Approach Just Won’t Fly
Here’s the real kicker: Dabo Swinney has been sincere about not liking the transfer portal. But that sincerity? It’s just plain unserious in today’s college football world. The man is miles behind the rest of the industry when it comes to acquiring top talent. Look at Christopher Vizzina, for example, who’s simply not a big-time college quarterback. Dabo isn’t getting the best players anymore, which is a huge shift from several years ago when he brought in guys like Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne and actually kept them around for extra seasons. The transfer portal completely flipped that dynamic on him, and now he has zero long-term stability in terms of roster retention. Clemson hasn’t even been a relevant program for most of the past five years! Alabama’s athletic department, or any top-tier program for that matter, just can’t trust Dabo to build a program that fits the modern era of college football. That kind of philosophy would never, ever fly in Tuscaloosa if Kalen DeBoer struggles this year and gets fired, opening up that job. Dabo has, very plainly, removed himself from the Bama conversation if DeBoer craters this December.
Forget the Alabama job, Dabo Swinney is now in a straight-up fight just to save his job at Clemson. The powers that be inside that university absolutely have to sit him down and get a firm commitment from him to actually pursue the best players, especially at quarterback and the other skill positions. Clemson has the resources, but Dabo needs to commit to the hunt for talent. If he can’t make real progress there, Clemson brass will have to have that tough conversation with the most successful coach in their school’s history. Things are intense right now, and what happens next will define his legacy.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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