Swinney Spent the Spring 'Coaching the Coaches'

Dabo Swinney not only had to coach up his players this spring, he also had to coach up his coaches.

Jason Priester All Clemson

For the first time in many years, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney not only had to coach up his players during spring practice—he also had to coach up the coaches.

The reason for the change was simple: he has a lot of new pieces to his coaching staff after the departure of both coordinators, as well as other assistants and support staff for other opportunities.

“It's been fun and definitely a lot of that because we do have, unfortunately, some new people coming in, but also some guys just taking different roles,” Swinney said. “And so that's been fun to see them. It's one of those things that until you go do it, there's always nuances that you don't really know until you start doing it, but man, it's been a lot of fun. This staff has really good chemistry already. They like each other. It's fun to go sit in both rooms and see the comradery. They're all on the same page.


“We've got a talented staff and I'm thankful that we were able to get the work done for the bowl game. I thought that was good for us, just like for your players to create this, to have a bowl game and to have such a tough game was a lot of confidence for those guys coming out, going into spring. And then I just like the interaction that I've seen, there's a lot of trust and respect with these players and this staff, and it's going to be fun. It's going to be fun. They've all just settled in nicely in whatever roles they're in. We got a lot of different people support staff wise too, so we'll have a lot more of that this summer as we really kind of take a deep dive into our program and everything about it as we start over.”

Question:
Coach, you talked about all the players and coaches that were in new positions or coming in. Do you see today as a good trial by fire sort of situation for the group?

Dabo:
Yeah, again, a day like today's good for the coaches because I mean, they're all looking at me. I'm like, don't look at me. Hey, that's on y'all. On penalty decisions and situational stuff. It was good that it worked out. We had had a couple of two minute drive type of opportunities, both sides, before the half, end of the game. And so just having to think through some of that stuff from a play call standpoint, and then when you split your staff, you got guys taking on more roles, which is good for them, whether you're calling the plays or making some of the decisions.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Dabo Swinney's squad is listed at -150 to win the conference this fall, but that number is significantly different than the last couple of years and tells the tale about where Clemson and the rest of the ACC hopefuls stand.

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