Confidence high that Swinney is Clemson’s next boss

By Marc Hudgens  |   Monday, December 01, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

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One thing’s for certain: Beating the South Carolina Gamecocks has job implications at Clemson.

Just as it saved ex-coach Tommy Bowden’s job countless times, Saturday’s dominant 31-14 Tiger win over the hated instate rival South Carolina may very well give interim skipper Dabo Swinney the permanent gig at Clemson. Amazing the effects that owning your rival has on job security.

You have to admit that amassing a whopping 383 total yards and all those points on the nation’s 11th-ranked defense with a suspect offense is indeed impressive. Clearly Swinney and company had the Tigers ready and aimed, but this is just one impressive offensive performance among a sea of pitiful outings.

Explain how you can accrue all those numbers against one of the best defenses in the nation, yet just seven days ago in Charlottesville, Va., this same offense only racked up 190 yards total yards (30 rushing) versus the nation’s 40th-rated 'D' in the University of Virginia.

Sorry, the inconsistency is still there, and glaringly so.

But now with a 4-2 mark since taking over for Bowden, who was forced out the Monday after the Wake Forest game and a 3-3 record, Swinney is probably in like flint after a three-game winning streak. It’s just a matter of making the formal announcement.

Should this win over South Carolina mean that much? Well, maybe. On one hand, racking up all those numbers against that defense deserves a tip of the hat; on the other, though, Clemson has historically owned the Gamecocks (65-37-4 series mark), so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal from that perspective. But like Nick Saban said after Alabama punched Clemson in the mush in the season opener with a 34-10 landslide win, it’s just one game. Meaning, let’s not lose our minds over this -- with all due respect to the rivalry, it’s not like the Tigers beat the USC Trojans in the Coliseum. The soon-to-be 39-year-old’s body of work over the past six games in mopping up Bowden’s mess must be analyzed.

If that’s the case, he’s likely in. Clemson is indeed playing with more fire, with more confidence and less overconfidence. You no longer get the feel that the Tigers think they can win just by showing up. There’s work to be done, and Swinney has the team rolling up its sleeves. It’s this intangible that is intriguing yet scary at the same time, because the fact is that Swinney has no real head coaching experience under his belt. As said earlier, mop-up duty isn’t real experience, especially if it’s just six games we’re talking about. Should Clemson keep Swinney, he’ll be the school’s third straight inexperienced coaching hire -- Bowden and Tommy West combined for three years of prior head coaching experience before Clemson. Not exactly reassuring of a championship future.

Athletic director Terry Don Phillips has a difficult decision to make. He’s reportedly very high on Swinney, but he’s also supposedly just as enamored with Air Force skipper Troy Calhoun, a guy who turned the Falcons around in two short years and also has NFL experience. A lot is riding on this hire -- this is BCS time for Clemson, or another screw-up waiting to happen.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He...
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CommentsComments: 4  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
NB		02:08 PM
12/01/2008
DUMB HIRE, DUMB HIRE, DUMB HIRE: Before I give my FINAL blog to Clemson Football, I would like to say this: I have loved...
No.2
RazzMaTazz		03:04 AM
12/02/2008
NB: Don't leave us. We need you! I would have rather seen a big name hire, like Butch Davis. A statement. A commitment to...
No.3
Bart Doan		07:08 PM
12/02/2008
Tough hire, aside from the last game against South Carolina, Clemson's offensive numbers weren't any better with Dabo than they...
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