Staff continuity has played a big role in Clemson’s rise

Most college football programs that rise to an elite level begin losing top assistant coaches on their way to the top, but Clemson’s staff under Dabo Swinney has remained relatively intact despite the Tigers posting 10 wins or more five straight years.

That continuity is a big reason why Clemson has built a program that’s sustaining success on a national level.

“If you look at any successful program out there… You surround yourself with great coaches,” Swinney said Friday at ACC Media Days. “I've been very fortunate to have a great staff really from the start. I've had a great group of men I've worked with from day one that have done an incredible job of helping us build a foundation and build the program that we all enjoy today.”

Of Clemson’s nine assistant coaches, seven have been on staff since 2012 or before. The addition of quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter in place of Chad Morris is the only staff change since 2013.

“I think it’s tremendous, and it says a lot about Dabo and the family atmosphere that he’s been able to pull together with the assistant coaches,” Clemson athletics director Dan Radakovich said. “It’s a great environment. He makes it fun. Our coaches are en eclectic group. They all get along very well together.”

The assistant whose name has been mentioned the most as a head coaching candidate is defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

He’s consistently produced top-10 defenses in the country and is known as a strong recruiter, but has chosen to continue to coach for the Tigers despite receiving interest from several schools in the past couple of years.

Venables made $1.35 million this past season, and received a raise this spring to $1.425 million, making him one of the highest paid assistants in college football.

Radakovich said Clemson is committed to paying top salaries to keep assistant coaches.

“I think we’ve demonstrated that,” he said. “Dabo, as the leader of the program, makes that a huge priority.”

When Swinney’s had to make coaching staff decisions, he has made good ones. Morris left to become the head coach at SMU late in 2014, and Swinney promoted Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott to co-offensive coordinators. The two helped guide a record-setting offense last year.

“Dabo does his homework. He does a great job of interviewing people to make sure that they fit what he wants to do,” Radakovich said. “The other great part of that is he knows what he wants. You can’t hire someone really good if you don’t know what you want, and I think he’s very, very good at understanding where all of the roles in the football operations area fit and he can identify people to fill those roles.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 7:37 PM.