Swinney Super Excited to Have Eason on Board

Clemson Head Coach Happy to Bring Another Tiger Home

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is super excited to have former Clemson standout Nick Eason on his coaching staff.

Swinney announced Friday that Eason has been named the Tigers’ Defensive Run Game Coordinator and Defensive Tackles Coach. The hire was officially approved by the Clemson University Board of Trustees’ Compensation Committee on Friday morning.

Eason brings a lot of experience to the Tigers’ coaching staff. He spent 17 years, as a player and as a coach, in the NFL.

“I am super, super excited to welcome Nick Eason back to Clemson,” Swinney said in a release from Clemson Athletics Communications. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to know him when he was a player here; he was before me, but I vividly remember meeting him when I first got here in the spring of 2003.

“He was training for the NFL Draft, he had just finished his last season and I remember meeting him and I was struck immediately with his presence, how he carried himself and how he was respected by all. And then obviously being here now 19 years, I’ve had many opportunities to be around him and get to know him and follow him. He’s a guy that I’ve followed for many years and a guy that I’ve had my eye on for our staff for many years. I just hadn’t had the right opportunity with the right timing to hire him, but, man, as we always say, everything is always on God’s timing. This was the right time for us at Clemson and also for Nick.”

Eason spent last season at Auburn, where he coached the defensive line. He helped the SEC Tigers rank sixth in the SEC against the run in 2021, allowing just 126.9 yards per game. Auburn allowed just 3.5 yards per carry, which ranked third in the conference behind Alabama and Georgia.

Auburn also ranked fourth in the SEC and 17th nationally in tackles for loss with 96. Eason coached rush end Derick Hall to second team All-SEC honors in 2021. The junior tallied nine of the Tigers’ 36 sacks and had 12.5 tackles for loss. He led the Tigers in both categories.

Hall’s nine sacks tied for third in the SEC.

Before going to Auburn, Eason had spent seven seasons in the NFL as an assistant coach at Cleveland, Cincinnati and Tennessee. This came after he spent 10 seasons as a defensive linemen in the NFL. He played for the Cleveland Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals as a player.

During his four seasons with the Steelers (2007-'10), Eason played in two Super Bowls, while being a part of the Steelers' victory over Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII. He also played in Super Bowl XLV for Pittsburgh.

“Nick is the epitome of what I look for in a coach. He has an incredible passion for the game, he has got a great background and he truly loves the player," Swinney said. "In this hire, I really wanted a guy who had great experience at the NFL level. I wanted somebody who has coached the best of the best at the highest level, and that’s exactly what he’s done. He was a great player at Clemson and he’s a great Clemson man.

“Not only was he a great player at Clemson, but he was a great pro. He was incredibly respected all throughout his career as a player and coach. He’s coached the best of the best, he’s a Super Bowl champion, but I love his passion for coaching and teaching young people. He’s been drawn to the college level by the impact he can have on a young person’s life, and he just really fits and aligns with our values here at Clemson. It’s just an added bonus that he happened to be a great player here at Clemson.”

Below is the rest of Swinney’s comments on the hiring of Nick Eason, as well as a few comments from Eason as well.

Dabo Swinney on Eason

“This opportunity to hire Nick obviously came in the wake of a new opportunity for Todd Bates. I want to thank Todd for the great job he did for us these past five years, and I am excited for his new opportunity with Brent [Venables] at Oklahoma.

“But I’m even more excited for the opportunity for Nick to join our staff as our defensive run game coordinator and defensive tackles coach, and I’m also really excited for our current players because I know that he is going to be a great asset to them. He’ll be great for them, he’ll be great for our defensive staff and great for Clemson as a whole.”

Nick Eason on coming back to Clemson

“To have this opportunity to come back to Clemson is a blessing from God. It is a dream for most coaches to have the opportunity to coach at your alma mater and that is the case for me.

“Clemson is a special place. It has been family to me since I first took a visit as a recruit in 1997. I have continued the relationships I started almost 25 years ago with the fans, the administration and the coaching staff.

“I want to thank Coach Swinney for the opportunity to be a part of a program with such a rich tradition, one that has become one of the best in the nation. I also can’t wait to work with Chief of Staff Woody McCorvey, who I have known and respected for many years.

“Most of all, I am looking forward to working with one of the best defensive lines in the country.”

--Clemson Athletics Communications contributed to this story