Dabo announces succession plan at key Clemson football staff position
Dabo Swinney revealed a succession plan at a key staff position Monday.
Speaking on his weekly radio show, Swinney said current Clemson assistant strength and conditioning coach Dennis Love will succeed longtime coach Joey Batson as Clemson’s lead strength and conditioning coach starting in 2026.
Although Love was Batson’s expected successor, per an April report from TigerIllustrated.com, Swinney had not discussed the move publicly until Monday.
Batson, who is in his 60s and has battled health issues in recent years, announced in April that the 2025 season would be his last as Clemson football’s director of strength and conditioning. The 2025 season is Batson’s 40th season as a college S&C coach and his 29th year in the lead role at Clemson.
Swinney said Monday night on his radio show that Batson “hand-picked” Love to replace him as Clemson football’s new lead strength and conditioning coach and Love turned down an NFL job with the Minnesota Vikings to stay at Clemson.
“If you ask our players, people come back from all over to train with D-Love,” Swinney said. “They love Dennis. And Dennis has great experience.”
Love spent 11 years at Clemson from 2004-14 and his final four as the school’s director of Olympic sports strength and conditioning. He also assisted the football program, working specifically with the defensive line.
Love then left Clemson and worked two seasons as an assistant strength coach with the NFL’s Denver Broncos (including for their Super Bowl 50-winning team). He was Purdue’s associate director of S&C from 2017-20 and worked at Auburn in 2021 before returning to Clemson ahead of the 2022 season.
“He had the Minnesota Vikings head job. ... They wanted him to come be their head strength coach,” Swinney said of Love. “And Joey knew he had some health things he was dealing with. And so we made the decision back in the summer that it was time, and so Dennis turned that job down.”
A fresh start for Clemson football’s conditioning
Love, a South Carolina native, is a popular figure within the program. The 2025 season is his 15th overall season at Clemson across two stints.
Batson is set to make $625,000 in 2025, per his most recent contract. Swinney raved about his longtime strength coach Monday, calling him one of the “unsung heroes” of Clemson football’s success during Swinney’s tenure.
But Batson has faced criticism in recent years as Clemson football has slipped a bit, with losses in three straight season openers (and four of the last five) and poor run defense calling the team’s offseason preparation into question. One player, LB Barrett Carter, admitted in 2023 he didn’t feel in shape heading into the opener.
Love is currently making $225,590.09 in base salary in 2025. When he’s formally promoted to Batson’s role in the offseason, he’ll likely get a big raise.
“There’s not many people that have turned down an NFL head strength job, but he turned that job down because his dream has been to be the guy here at Clemson,” Swinney said of Love. “We’re super excited about him stepping into that role.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2025 at 8:44 PM.
