re: Potential replacement for when Saban retires

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I'm not going to continue to argue, and your entitled to your opinion, but the ball was so far over the head of and past the Clemson player...and right in front of Dabo...that the evidence doesn't support your point of view.

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One day, when I father children, I'll use this debate to explain to them what making a mountain out of a molehill is.

Here is your next coach.

Usually teams that lose in a title game collapse the next year, but Clemson is playing at a high level and is back in the Playoff. Not many coaches have accomplished that outside of Tuscaloosa.

Yet we have people focusing on Dabo screaming at an official or a punter. Amazing.

PJ Fleck---I think ND goes after him next year.

Joe Moorehead---Current PSU OC, he has good hc experience on lower level (think Chip Kelly)

Mike MacIntyre--current hc of Colorado, has ties to southeast.

Mike Norvell---HC of Memphis

Y'all keep saying Dabo has built his own legacy at Clemson. Look, I may be splitting hairs here and I'm not disparaging Dabo, but Clemson was THE ACC power before FSU joined the league and they weren't chopped liver when Dabo took the reins. Clemson has won 16 ACC titles, most of them pre-Dabo. They have one NC, again, pre-Dabo. I'm not saying he's a bad coach; on the contrary, he's done really well. I'm just saying he didn't take over Vandy and turn them into Clemson. He took a fairly powerful program that was suffering through some mediocrity (think Bama between Stallings and Saban) and righted the ship.

He's probably going to get the call when the time comes and I'm OK with that. I hope he continues to grow and learn as a coach. He's still got some learning to do. I do think his "player's coach" style will play well in Tuscaloosa after Saban hangs it up. It's the polar opposite of CNS and will be a much needed breath of fresh air. You can't question the results, but the "all business, all the time" approach gets old for everyone: the fans, the players, the staff. The winning is fun, but the process isn't. It's a game, let's make it fun again. Dabo would do that.

My biggest reservation with Dabo is the maddening habit he has of playing to the level of his competition. I don't know if it's a Dabo thing, a Clemson thing, or a bad habit he learned from Tommy Bowden who got fired for that problem. Everybody has games like that from time to time. Clemson has done it so much it's called Clemsoning. Is that because of Dabo or in spite of Dabo? It has continued on his watch too, just not quite as often. He's got one of the most talented teams in the country and one of the 3 most talented players in the country, and they struggled with some regularity this year. They struggled with Auburn, Troy, Louisville, NC State, FSU, and Pitt. Pitt beat them and NC State should have. Did everything but make the winning FG at the end. Is that the mark of a top shelf coach? It raises questions...

For Dabo to retain the golden ticket until it's redemption time, he's going to have to continue to win after this season. This is Watson's last year and as I posted previously in this thread, people want to see how much of this elite level success was due to Dabo Swinney and how much was due to having DeShaun Watson at QB. Going 9-3 next season wouldn't be surprising or damaging to his career. Going 7-6 might make people take a second look. Fortunately, that doesn't appear to be a decision we have to make at this time. Let's enjoy the coach we have for as long as we have him. Nobody will match this level anytime soon, so let's enjoy it while we can.

Like the other dude said earlier, Clemson had six 10 win seasons in 100 years of football before Dabo got that there.

He's had four in 8 years.

That's not a POWER.

My post wasn't ten win seasons, it was top ten finishes

Clemson was a solid regional program with a great class under Danny Ford that won a national title. Dabo has taken the program to a national level that they've only enjoyed for at most a 5 year period in their entire history.

Dabo and Jimbo gets the first call if Saban leaves in the next 4-5 years.

Pruitt won't be a consideration as he doesn't have the HCing experience. And he doesn't probably have the time to go and start working on that at another P5 school before Saban retires.

Peterson isn't leaving the West Coast.

Stoops could be ready to move on from Oklahoma.

PJ Fleck seems to be on the way up. Will be interesting to see if ND goes after him next season given his issues in his personal life. (That would be so funny if ND actually did pursue him)

That leaves a hand full of other P5 coaches that could rise up on the list the next five years. Guys like Durkin, Fuentes, etc., could be on the list.

Who isn't going to be on the list is Herman, Urban, Harbaugh, etc. They aren't leaving their jobs for Bama.

In the end, I think Dabo, Jimbo, and God forbid, Jim Mac if Dabo and/or Jimbo doesn't bite.

Why in the hell would we even consider Bob Stoops? He hasn't won anything outside the shitty Big XII in years. And has underachieved almost every year. No thanks.

im all in for Dabo.

it would be a change of pace, but nobody is going to be saban. he would do things differently and he would still keep us winning at a high level.