Dabo broke his rule on Clemson playing 7 home games every year. Here’s why
Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney made his stance clear in August 2018: The Tigers should play seven home games each season.
“A lot of these people make their year on those seven Saturdays,” Swinney said then of local businesses. “I don’t mind it if somebody else wants to give up a home game, but I’m adamant and really believe wholeheartedly we need to have our maximum number of games here at home every single year.”
Those strong words are why it was a bit of a surprise when Clemson announced last month that it will open the 2021 season against Georgia in Charlotte.
That game replaces Clemson’s previously scheduled matchup with Wyoming, and it means that the Tigers will play only six home games in 2021.
“We’ve had many, many years where we could’ve done a (neutral site) opener or whatever and probably made more money from an athletic department standpoint, to be honest with you. But lose a (home) game and only have six (home) games,” Swinney said this week. “So I’ve really fought that my whole career and will continue to do that.”
But the 2021 schedule put Swinney and Clemson in an unusual situation.
The Tigers have played a Power 5 out-of-conference opponent, in addition to South Carolina, every year since 2010. And the Tigers have one on the schedule every year through 2037. The one year that wasn’t going to be the case was 2021 — until the game with Georgia was added.
“This was a situation where you set these things out in advance and all of a sudden ‘21 is kind of an oddball year for us. We really needed another game,” Swinney said. “So it worked out, especially being able to go to Charlotte, because that’s kind of been the formula we’ve had for a long time.”
Clemson and Georgia will meet to open the season two of the next five years. In addition to the 2021 game, they’re scheduled to play in Atlanta to open 2024. The two college football powers will also meet in Clemson in 2029, in Athens in 2030, in Athens in 2032 and at Clemson in 2033.
In addition to Georgia, Clemson’s 2021 nonconference slate includes games against S.C. State, UConn and South Carolina.
Clemson Athletics Director Dan Radakovich first spoke with Swinney about beefing up the 2021 schedule last summer. With critics around the country questioning the strength of Clemson’s ACC schedule each year, facing a tough team out of conference has always been important to the Tigers.
That became clear with the addition of this game.
“I hate the fact that we lose a home game, because it’s important to our community here. But this is pretty much what we’re going to do (in 2021) and then we’ll get back on track with how we do things moving forward,” Swinney said. “We needed another game. And it’s exciting. It just worked out. We may not have done it if it was another random team. But the fact that we had a chance to play Georgia, something that both fan bases will be really excited about.
“Obviously it’s a tough game. That’s a tough opener. It’s hard to win those games. But it’ll be an exciting way to start it all off.”
Clemson future schedules
Clemson now has a Power 5 opponent, in addition to its rival South Carolina, on the schedule for every year through 2037:
2020: at Notre Dame
2021: vs. Georgia (in Charlotte)
2022: at Notre Dame
2023: vs. Notre Dame
2024: vs. Georgia (in Atlanta)
2025: vs. LSU
2026: at LSU
2027: vs. Notre Dame
2028: at Notre Dame
2029: vs. Georgia
2030: at Georgia
2031: vs. Notre Dame
2032: at Georgia
2033: vs. Georgia
2034: at Notre Dame
2035: Oklahoma
2036: at Oklahoma
2037: vs. Notre Dame
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 11:37 AM.
