Dabo Swinney has turned Clemson football from an above-average ACC team to a perennial national title contender, what would a win do for his legacy?
More: 5 Reasons Clemson can upset Alabama and win the national championship
When Dabo Swinney was named the full-time head coach at Clemson ten years ago, not many were sure what to expect from the then-39-year old former wide receivers coach. Swinney had never held a head coaching position at any level, however, he had grown up as an assistant coach in the Alabama program under Gene Stallings and Mike Dubose, and returned after a three-year hiatus from coaching with Tommy Bowden at Clemson.
What happened next is the best ten-year run in the history of Clemson football and perhaps one of the best ten-year runs by a non-blue blood program in college football history. In his ten full seasons in Clemson, Swinney boasts a 111-27 record with five ACC Championships and a national championship in 2016, the first for the Clemson program since 1981 championship under coach Danny Ford.
As Swinney prepares for his third national championship game appearance in four years, it raises a pertinent question: What would a win do for his legacy? Without question, Swinney is the best coach in the history of Clemson football, even the legendary Danny Ford came nowhere close to accomplishing what Swinney has done. However, it would put Swinney in good company with a second national title.
Since the beginning of the BCS era in 1998, only three coaches have won two or more national championships at the same school: Pete Carroll at USC, Urban Meyer at Florida, and of course, Nick Saban at Alabama. With a win over Alabama, history will remember him as the man who had the answer to one of the greatest dynasty’s in sports: Alabama football under Nick Saban.
It will be a tall task to knock off the most talented Alabama team in the 126-year history of the program. But Swinney has the horses to pull it off and has pulled an unthinkable upset of an Alabama team before on his way to a national championship in 2016. If Swinney does bring home a win, he will be known as the man orchestrated of one of the most improbable upsets in college football history and the greatest football coach in the history of the ACC.