‘Why would you leave Clemson?’ Dabo in it for the long haul, coaching legends agree

Bobby Bowden knows all too well the decision Dabo Swinney is likely to face at some point in the next decade.

The coach who has taken Clemson’s program from good to elite during his 10 years leading the Tigers is probably going to get an opportunity to return to his home state of Alabama when 67-year-old Nick Saban decides to retire or move on.

Swinney would then have to choose: Try to continue to lift the Tigers program to new heights — or return home to his alma mater and build off the success of legendary Alabama coaches such as Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings and Saban.

It’s a similar decision to the one Bowden faced when he was offered the Alabama head coaching job in 1990 at a time when his Florida State Seminoles were establishing themselves as one of the most dominant programs in the country.

“Let me say this — all of my life I wanted to coach at Alabama. I was raised there,” Bowden told The State. “I went there out of high school but I didn’t stay. But that was always my home and I really felt like I’d probably have to go back there one day. But as time grew by it was very obvious to me Florida State is where I ought to be.”

Every offseason there is speculation that Swinney will head home when and if he is given the opportunity to do so. But with Clemson winning two out of the past three national titles and reaching the College Football Playoff four consecutive years, the 89-year-old Bowden wonders, “Why would you leave Clemson?”

“He’s got that thing going pretty good. And it’ll always be his. It’ll be his,” Bowden said. “Not go to Alabama and you’re second to Saban or second to coach Bryant. That’s something Dabo has to decide. It’s natural him being an Alabama graduate, being raised in Alabama, for that kind of talk to come up. It’s strictly conversation.”

The thought of always being compared to a legend in Bear Bryant played a factor in Bowden’s decision to remain at FSU, and he did just that until he retired in 2009 at the age of 80. If Swinney decides to leave Clemson to lead the Crimson Tide, he’ll undoubtedly always be compared to Saban.

Bowden was 304-97-4 during his time with the Seminoles, leading FSU to 12 ACC titles and a pair of national titles. He had only one losing season in his 34 seasons in Tallahassee — his first one in 1976.

“I felt like Alabama was Bear Bryant’s and there’s no way Bobby Bowden could overcome that,” Bowden said. “In fact, I wouldn’t even want to overcome it. I felt like I’d always be in his shadow. So anyway, there were a lot of reasons for me not to go back to Alabama.”

Bowden isn’t the only one who expects Swinney to remain at Clemson and continue to build a dynasty there.

Former Georgia and Miami head coach Mark Richt, now an analyst for the ACC Network, expects Swinney to end his career coaching the Tigers.

Swinney, 49, is set to begin his 11th season leading Clemson next month. He is already third in terms of longevity at the school, trailing only Frank Howard (1940-1969) and Danny Ford (1978-1989).

“Why would you leave Clemson the way things are going right now?” Richt said. “I’d be shocked to see Dabo Swinney anywhere other than Clemson for the rest of his career, to be honest with you.”

Swinney has a 116-30 record as the head coach at Clemson and has led the Tigers to a pair of national titles. His 116 wins are second all time at Clemson behind Howard’s 165.

Swinney received a new contract in April, a 10-year deal worth $93 million. He has two sons on Clemson’s team, and he moved into a new home less than two years ago.

There’s been no indication that he’s eyeing a move to Alabama or anywhere else, and his new deal includes an “Alabama clause” that increases his buyout if he leaves to be the head coach of the Crimson Tide.

“I have no reason to think that he’s going anywhere anytime soon. And I think that’s obvious with the contract that he has and with how involved he is in this community,” Tigers quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter said.

Swinney has maintained throughout his time at Clemson that you “never say never.” And there is no buyout in his contract if he leaves for an NFL job.

But if he does stay at Clemson — as Bowden, Richt and Streeter expect — and the Tigers maintain a high level of success, he will go down as one of the all-time winningest coaches in college football history.

Clemson has won at least 10 games eight straight years and has averaged 12 wins a year during that stretch. If Swinney coaches as long as Bowden did (until age 80) and averages 10 wins per year, he will end up with 416 victories. That would put him ahead of Joe Paterno’s 409 wins for the most in FBS history.

Even if Swinney coaches until a more realistic age of 70 — averaging 10 wins a year — he would finish with 316 victories. That number would put him fifth all time behind Paterno, Bowden (377), Pop Warner (336) and Bryant (323).

Clemson showed with its latest contract to Swinney a commitment to keeping him around a long time.

“We hope he stays here forever. What we’ve been able to do, the alignment between our board of trustees, our president, our department, our football program I think is unique,” Athletics Director Dan Radakovich said. “Our board loves what our president’s doing, and our president loves what our athletic department’s doing — a lot of notoriety and positive notoriety to our campus, which just helps mushroom a lot of the positives you see here going on at Clemson right now.”

If Swinney does indeed stay at Clemson, don’t expect the program’s momentum to slow down anytime soon.

The Tigers are heavy favorites to reach the College Football Playoff for the fifth consecutive year in 2019 behind Heisman candidate Trevor Lawrence. Clemson also has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for 2020 and appears set up for success for years to come.

“If he stays here, we’re gonna have a consistency factor that’s hard to find in college football. There are a select few teams that have that. And I think that’s where you can gain your respect as a program is to have a consistently good program year in and year out,” Streeter said. “That doesn’t just mean wins on the field but also things that we’re doing off the field. And obviously coach Swinney’s been able to do that.

“For him to stay here and be able to do that for the next 10 years, you’ll see that consistency, which is hard to come by.”

The five most tenured Clemson coaches

1. Frank Howard (1940-69, 30 seasons): 165-118-12

2. Danny Ford (1978-89, 12 seasons): 96-29-4

3. Dabo Swinney* (2008-Present, 11 seasons): 116-30

4. Tommy Bowden (1999-2008, 10 seasons): 72-45

5. Jess Neely (1931-39, 9 seasons): 43-35-7

* - Coached seven games in 2008 as interim head coach

The five head coaches with the most years at current school

1. Kirk Ferentz (20), Iowa 1999-2018

2. Gary Patterson (19), TCU 2000-18

3-tied. Kyle Whittingham (14), Utah, 2004-18

3-tied. Mike Gundy (14), Oklahoma St., 2005-18

3-tied. Frank Solich, Ohio (14), 2005-18

This story was originally published July 25, 2019 at 10:27 AM.