Clemson’s Swinney and the call on Koenning

By Robert Rousseau  |   Tuesday, December 23, 2008  |  Comments( 5 )

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Newly appointed Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has made some excellent hires recently, bringing in Charlie Harbison to coach defensive backs and Danny Pearman to handle tight ends and tackles. But there is one assistant coach who was on staff under Swinney's predecessor, Tommy Bowden, who will be notably absent from the new staff.

That person is former defensive coordinator Vic Koenning.

Koenning came to the Tigers from Troy after his defensive unit put up some amazing statistics in 2004. The good times didn’t stop there, either, as he was very successful at Clemson. Under Koenning in 2008, the Tigers achieved rankings of 12th in the nation in pass defense and 16th in total defense. Cumulatively, his Tigers defenses were very strong, finishing in the top 25 in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense and passing efficiency defense from 2005-07.

In the end, though, when Koenning sat down with Swinney, the new headmaster couldn’t guarantee him a job; thus, they parted ways. In fact, there were even some hard feelings afterward.

"I did throw my keys on the table at Clemson,” Koenning said. “As good as we've been on defense at Clemson, I didn't like how I was being treated."

The question is: Why let an outstanding coordinator like Koenning go? Of course, we can speculate as to the specifics all we want without knowing the real truth. Maybe it was the fact that Swinney got the head job over Koenning (after all, it was supposedly a surprise even to him) and there were some problems on one end or both because of this. Maybe there were deeper or more numerous reasons. Regardless, Swinney knew Koenning well enough; they were on the same staff.

The bottom line is that once you take over as a college football head coach, you have to be 100 percent behind your assistants and feel as if the decisions on them are yours. In the end, if Swinney had been totally behind Koenning, he would’ve hired him on the spot, given the resume. But that’s not what happened.

You have to do it your way; thus, if it doesn't work, then there’s no one else to blame but yourself. That’s what Swinney is likely doing.

Could this decision backfire from a strategic end? Of course, as there aren’t many guys out there who can do the job Koenning did. If Swinney lands former Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis, it would certainly help. If not, then the tension will continue to build.

Koenning will be a good defensive coordinator for Kansas State, no doubt. But he wasn’t Swinney’s guy, and because he’s the head coach at Clemson, that’s the only opinion that really matters.

Swinney's future will rest on decisions like these.
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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or...
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CommentsComments: 5  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
NB		02:05 PM
12/23/2008
Swinney will be under enough heat from Tiger fans after the first five or six games of 2009. He won't have time to worry about...
No.2
NB		03:02 PM
12/23/2008
You don't hire head coaches because you like their "good'ol guy" persona, you hire head coaches because they produce wininng...
No.3
cdr4tigers		04:02 AM
12/24/2008
Here we go again. Is this the same "writer" that stirred up the last stink about the Clemson coaching situation here on RF? At...
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