After Wild Week, Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney has Work to Do This Weekend
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and Tiger Nation have experienced a whirlwind week of constant speculation, breaking news and fallout, and it's not likely to end this weekend.
It all started when defensive coordinator Brent Venables left to become the head coach at Oklahoma last Sunday night.
By Thursday morning, Swinney lost his athletic director, Dan Radakovich, to Miami. On Friday afternoon, offensive coordinator Tony Elliott boarded a plane for Virginia, where he went to accept his first head coaching job.
Defensive analysts Ted Roof and Miguel Chavis took off to join Venables. Multiple reports have Thad Turnipseed, who served as Clemson's Director of Special Projects and External Affairs, also going to Oklahoma.
In between all that, three defensive prospects decommitted from Clemson's 2022 recruiting class.
For the first time in a decade, there's some sense of instability, at least outside of the football facility. Inside, though, that might not be the case with the head coach.
Swinney hasn't experienced this much change very often in his coaching career and definitely not during the College Football Playoff era. However, Swinney has shown he's rarely caught off guard and he likely has a clear plan ready to go.
He knows that as of right now, Graham Neff is the "acting" AD, and likely his future boss.
Swinney also knows that he'll hold a staff meeting Friday with the remaining assistants to formulate a plan for an important recruiting weekend. Some of those current employees could already likely be holding more prominent roles.
Clemson SI reported earlier this week that off-the-field defensive whiz Wes Goodwin was trending toward an assistant role, maybe as defensive coordinator or at least co-DC. The little-known analyst has been on the recruiting trail, so the move, at least for the bowl game, appears to have been made.
Quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Brandon Streeter, a former player who has been on Swinney's staff since 2015, could be next in line to replace Elliott and be the primary play-caller. It's very likely he at least gets more of a share of the OC duties in some capacity.
There's still a lot of speculation, reports and information slowly coming out of the program because Swinney has yet to publicly address any promotions or new hires. The Tigers have a Dec. 29 game against Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl, so he won't be quiet much longer.
But Clemson's head coach appears to have the staff members needed to get through the end of the month as the program goes for its 10th win for the 11th consecutive season.
This weekend, he'll be focused on starting bowl prep and hosting 2022 running back Trevor Etienne. The brother of legendary Clemson rusher Travis Etienne might ultimately choose to forge his own path elsewhere, but Swinney gets a chance to make a huge impression and work some of the recruiting magic that this class needs to finish strong when the Dec. 15 early signing period begins.
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