Now that the Alabama saga is over, everyone can move forward |
It’s time to exhale and get on with the business of preparing for the 2024 football season.
I wrote late last week that everyone knew the day would come when Nick Saban would call it quits, and that Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney would be a prime candidate. There were some anxious moments toward the end of the week, but Alabama hired Kalen DeBoer away from Washington, and Clemson fans, as well as Athletic Director Graham Neff, could breathe easy. How close was it? I get the feeling that Alabama called and wanted to gauge Swinney’s interest. If he had said he was interested, would Alabama have offered? I don’t know that we will ever know, but I’ve been told there was an anxious 48 hours around Clemson as Swinney talked it over with his family and eventually Neff. Everyone went into those final hours knowing this wasn’t a money grab on Swinney’s part – he wants any extra funds to go to his assistant coaches – and there would be no raise forthcoming. This came down to one thing – do you want the Alabama job, or do you want to stay in Clemson? And then it came down to one final question – are you happy in Clemson? The answer was yes, and Swinney told Alabama there was no interest on his side. Not now. Swinney held a team meeting to tell his team that he was here to stay, saying, “I’ve always been an Alabama boy, but now I am a Clemson man.” He made sure that Nick Eason, arguably his best recruiter, will have a big enough title to earn a nice raise (a well-deserved raise). The weekend, from a football perspective, ended with the football banquet Saturday. I was told that there was a little something different about the banquet. They are all special in their own way as seniors gather with their teammates and coaches a final time, awards are dispensed, and everyone puts a bow on the season. So what was different? “This one just feels like they are building something special,” is what I was told. Not a lot to grab onto, but it’s the first time in a few years I’ve heard something like that. And, once the news started to leak out about Swinney staying in Clemson, I talked to someone who said, “Maybe this what everybody needed. A reset. It’s been a tough few years for everybody. The injuries. The losses that people aren’t used to. There are a lot of perceptions out there – right or wrong they are there – about whether Dabo has the chip on his shoulder he used to have. Whether he has that fire. And there is the perception that there is a segment of Clemson fans who don’t appreciate everything that’s happened around there the last decade. It goes both ways. Maybe everyone needed this kind of reset.” I walked into the gymnastics event Friday night, and it wasn’t long before in came Swinney, offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham, and recruiting coordinators Jordan Sorrells and Ty Clements. The coaches were hosting two wide receiver prospects – preferred walk-ons – but I glanced over and watched for a few moments. And I realized that Swinney genuinely looked happy. For the first time in a long time, he looked at peace. He ate popcorn and laughed and joked with his wife, his recruits and coaches. Considering everything that has happened – Swinney saying he heard the segment of the fan base that didn’t agree with his use of the portal, his hiring policies, and pretty much everything he does. Then there was the Tyler from Spartanburg call. It all seemed like things were starting to sour. Then Alabama called, and everyone had to take a step back and ask, “Are you happy?” For Swinney, the answer was yes.
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