“Dat Boy” Swinney: Welcome To The Hot Seat
We’re not going to “milk” the whole “Dat Boy” thing again this year … Clemson University’s head football coach is named Dabo Swinney (for whatever reason), and that’s that. Also, there’s no “P” in the name of the University where he gets paid $250,000 a year from the taxpayers of South Carolina to coach football (the paychecks say “William C. Swinney,” in case you were interested). Oh, and as much as we might occasionally try to convince people otherwise, the football team he coaches does not go by the nickname “Farmers,” or “Taters.”
However he got his name … it’s fine by us. Whatever they pay him, that’ fine too. And the State of South Carolina does have an agricultural history (as well as a history of inbreded inflection that often results in the introduction of syllables where none technically exist).
So there … it all makes sense.
Of course, this week Clemson fans aren’t all that fixated on their own inability to pronounce things, they’re focused on their football team’s inability to win games. Specifically, they’re focused on the fact that a 2-2 Tiger team with “legitimate” losses to No. 10 TCU and No. 23 Georgia Tech somehow managed to choke on the road against friggin’ Maryland – a 1-3 team that lost to Middle Tennessee State earlier this year.
In fact we were going to write an article called “The Honeymoon Is Over For Dabo Swinney” until our buds at Bleacher Report beat us to the punch with an article entitled … yeah, “The Honeymoon Is Over For Dabo Swinney.”
From Bleacher Report:
Mr. Swinney say hello to your first week answering tough questions, dealing with unabated criticism, and getting to face for the first time some really angry Clemson fans.
They are going show you no mercy now. You have just lost to a team the LA Times called the worst in Division 1 football. Offensive coordinator Billy Napier you might as well get prepared for it too. It’s your offense that is unable to score points with playmakers like Jacoby Ford and C.J. Spiller on your team.
With a BYE week coming up, before playing Wake Forest, the scrutiny you two are about feel is going unlike anything you’ve ever known. Those open practices, beating South Carolina, forget it, because the honeymoon is over.
Is Clemson out of the ACC race? Mathematically no. Guess what though you are staring up at the Maryland Terrapins now. You have to beat both NC State and Florida State and hope for some luck. A season that started with the promise of tougher football, a chance at contending in the ACC is now on the brink of spiraling out of control.
There’s no doubt Swinney earned this job last year – taking a Tiger team on the precipice of implosion and landing them in a New Year’s Day bowl. That forced even our cynical founding editor to acknowledge that he deserved a chance to lead the team in 2009.
Of course if something doesn’t give, 2009 might be the extent of Clemson’s patience with Swinney.
Loading ...Pic: Travis Bell, Sideline Carolina
Comments
By albert glenn on October 4th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Fits,
And what do you call Sumter Street?
By garnetandblack on October 4th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Dadgummit! Dabo, a good man and good coach, before Gamecock fans have a chance to start disliking him. You can talk about the alleged chicken curse but what about the Danny Ford Curse in which anything less than perfection, i.e. ken Hatfield 83 percent wins, makes you want to get rid of the coach.
By Jeffy01 on October 5th, 2009 at 9:59 am
BYE is favored by 3
By Relativelysane on October 5th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Let’s have a little perspective here with our college football. Changing coaches does not mean an overnight change in a football program. In their first year, here’s how many coaches have performed:
Spurrier at USC went 7-5, Bowden at Clemson went 6-6, Holtz at USC went 0-11, Scott at USC went 6-5, West Pete Carroll at the other USC went 6-6. Nick Saban at Bama went 6-6. Bob Stoops at Oklahoma went 7-5.
Everyone needs to wait and see where Dabo’s legacy ends up, as some of these guys have been more successful than others. We know Dabo is a good guy, and time will tell if he is a good head coach.
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' on October 5th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Dabo got his job by beating the Gamecocks, which is the main reason Tammy Bowden kept the job after so many second-rate seasons. But it now appears that, like Bowden, Dabo basically shot his wad in beating Carolina and has nothing left for the other games that matter.
What must be particularly crushing to the depths of the Taters’ hearts is the realization that their once very good program is now mediocre, has been mediocre for the past 18 years, and will be getting worse in the foreseeable future. The Gamecocks are looking good, but of course that can change for the worse in the blink of an eye. Still, the Taters are fearing that the worm may have turned, and that a Tiger Curse grips Death Valley just as the Chicken Curse appears to have lifted.
By CNSYD on October 5th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
In his press conference after the TCU loss, Dabo said that if things haven’t gotten better after 3 years then a change in head coach needs to be considered. He has no buyout. Three years is reasonable. It is a lot better than the time granted Richard Bell. Perhaps the chicken curse is disguised in the person of Brad Scott and that accounts for the malaise.
By gamecock on October 5th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
ahhhhhhhhhhh haha
This makes me happy.
By Hello on October 5th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Where does Spiller have them ranked now? Top 15 to top 10 (after 2 losses)? Heck no, they are a top 5 team according to CJ. And 4 plays from being undefeated. CJ could have been at Florida with 2 championship rings, and a shot at the Heisman.
By Jeffy01 on October 5th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
CJ still has them as having an outside shot at the orange bowl.
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' on October 5th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
CJ could’ve been at Florida with two championship rings and a could be in the NFL now making a shit-pot of money. Instead, he and his awesome, talented “better than everybody else” team will be lucky to make the Emerald City Bowl.
By Sportwatcher on October 5th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I would not criticize Spiller — he is simply trying to keep people optimistic and his efforts on the field show it. He now holds the ACC career record for most all-purpose yards, and that is no small accomplishment.
If there was one pivotal moment in CU football during the past 10 years, it was probably the retention of Tommy Bowden when it appeared he was headed to Arkansas (assuming that actually happened). Retaining him cost millions and also put the program in a PR bind: Even if it had the money to hire another expensive coach after Bowden, economic issues at the university (requiring five-day work furloughs of everyone, etc.) required the athletic department to be careful. Dabo defeated SC and looked the part — and for no more than 250k. All is not lost, however, as I understand the CU president will soon rank the team ahead of all others.
By CNSYD on October 5th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I guess CJ could have followed the lead of Watson and Summers. What NFL team are they playing for now? Until the completion of game 12 we will not know the results of either the season or the final game for either team. It might be wise to just wait and see how it unfolds.