It’s Hard to Argue, 2021 was Swinney’s Best Coaching Job

Despite All that Occurred, Swinney Kept His Tigers Together

Following Clemson’s double overtime loss to NC State on September 25, a lot of people left the Tigers for dead.

With losses to both Georgia and the Wolfpack, Clemson’s chances of making the College Football Playoff were gone. Winning the ACC’s Atlantic Division was going to be difficult. Injuries were mounting up, as star players were falling left and right, while other players were hitting the transfer portal.

At 2-2, it was the start to a season no one expected for Clemson. At that point, it would have been easy to give up.

Let’s face it. A lot of the media gave up on the Tigers, and so did some of their fans.

But Dabo Swinney did not give up. And he made sure his team did not, either.

In what can be described as arguably the best coaching job of his career, Swinney capped off another season with a bowl victory this past Wednesday night, while also coaching his Tigers to another 10-win season in the process.

The Tigers closed the year by winning their last six games and eight of their last nine, including a 20-13 victory over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando. They finished the season 10-3 overall, the 11^th straight year the program has won 10-plus games – one of only three programs in the history of college football to do so.

“To be sitting here 10-3, after starting 2-2 is just incredible,” Swinney said after the game. “It just speaks to the leadership and the character of the young men in our program, the culture of our program, the heart of our coaching staff as well and the foundation that we have at Clemson.”

It’s a foundation Swinney set in place way back in 2008 when he took over as the Tigers’ interim coach following the departure of Tommy Bowden midway through the year. He did not allow that team to give up in the face adversity, as they went 4-2 down the stretch and earned a Gator Bowl bid.

Since beating South Carolina in the regular-season finale, Clemson suffered one blow after another. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott left to become head coaches at Oklahoma and Virginia. Five players hit the transfer portal.

In the weeks and days leading up to the Cheez-It Bowl, several players were injured or out due to COVID protocols. It was just one thing after another.

Yet, here they were, despite everything that happened, standing on top of stage at the end of a bowl game celebrating another successful season.

“We had twenty-eight scholarship players unavailable tonight, twenty-eight,” Swinney said. “And, then two more, (Andrew) Booth and (James) Skalski, they are pretty good. They go out, so thirty. Thirty scholarship players unavailable, and then some pretty good coaches that are no longer with us, and an AD sitting on the beach under an umbrella right now.

“That’s a lot that’s gone on around these guys in the last few weeks. I just couldn't be more proud of our staff. That’s a lot of players, nine guys that went in a portal somewhere between September and whenever, and then nineteen guys out with injury, and we had three guys in the COVID protocol. Most of them have been out all year. For these guys to just continue to hang in there, the coaches continue to hang in there, and just find a way, all kind of musical chairs up front. I’m just really proud of this team.”

And everyone should be proud of the head coach for keeping it all together. Without a doubt, the 2021 season was Dabo Swinney’s best coaching job.