Clemson Football: Dabo Swinney has mirrored Nick Saban’s dominance in his own way

Clemson football under Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide have very different approaches, but the results have been similar: lots of wins.

More: 5 Reasons Clemson can upset Alabama and win the national championship

Alabama’s dynasty under Nick Saban, arguably the greatest coach in college football history, is the only thing standing between Clemson’s Dabo Swinney having a dynasty of his own. Over the past four years, Clemson is 1-2 against Alabama and 53-2 against all other teams.

If Swinney wins in Santa Clara, he and Saban will be tied 2-2. With a win, Swinney would also become the only other active head coach with multiple titles aside from Nick Saban, who has six. Swinney would need another national title to tie recently retired Urban Meyer, who has three.

Swinney, a proud Alabama alum, who just last season celebrated the 25-year anniversary of the 1992 national title in Bryant-Denny Stadium, built Clemson in the image of Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide. Much like Saban in 2007, Swinney saw great potential when he became the Tigers’ head coach in 2009.

Like Saban, Swinney modernized the program, updating facilities, recruiting practices, and building a more mentally tough culture that didn’t involve “Clemsoning”—the dreaded verb that came to represent Clemson’s penchant for routinely falling short of winning at the highest level. Swinney’s new approach extended to the coaching staff as well as the players Clemson recruited.

But for all of the similarities between Alabama and Clemson, Swinney has remained resolutely his own man. Sure, the Tigers’ blueprint might be similar to the Tide’s, but the man on the sideline couldn’t be more different.

Outside of Tuscaloosa, Saban has been compared to the devil—“Nicky Satan,” Penn State head coach James Franklin once called him. And there is something admirably inhuman about Nick Saban. Rigidly dedicated to “The Program,” he is unemotional in the face of remarkable success. He eats the same thing every day and his attention to detail is unrivaled. Even the Alabama faithful regard Saban with caution. He is revered, but feared.

Dabo Swinney is the exact opposite. With his quick smile, goofy demeanor, and winning Southern charm, Swinney is hard to hate. Even when his offense is effortlessly piling on points, Swinney doesn’t appear malicious about it. He’s just having fun. It’s not his fault that his defense won’t let you move the ball.

By now, we all know Swinney’s story: after a disappointing start to the 2008 season, Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden stepped down. With two former head coaches on staff, it seemed obvious that one would take the reins.

Instead, Clemson chose Swinney, a 38-year-old receivers coach who, just a few years before, had been selling commercial real estate. Not only had Swinney never been a head coach before, he hadn’t even been a coordinator.

It’s a remarkable story, but perhaps even more remarkable is the patience with which Swinney rebuilt Clemson over the next five years. After a disastrous stint with the Miami Dolphins and a rocky start in Tuscaloosa, Saban was quick to turn around the Tide. Swinney, on the other hand, took his time, compiling increasingly solid recruiting classes and season finishes, all the while quietly building Clemson into a sleeping powerhouse.

The turning point came in 2015, with the emergence of quarterback Deshaun Watson and Clemson’s first College Football Playoff berth. The Tigers have been in every playoff since, alongside Saban’s Crimson Tide.

No team has been as dominant as Clemson this century except for Alabama. Yes, there were the 2000-2003 Miami Hurricanes, the 2003-2008 USC Trojans, and the Florida Gators under Urban Meyer. But the wins were not without controversy and scandal.

For all of their differences in coaching style and demeanor, what makes Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban so special is the lack of drama surrounding their dominance. Both coaches have done things the right way and succeeded at the very highest level.

And neither shows any sign of slowing down. Sure, many coaches win—but how many can sustain at the level of Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney?

The 2018 national championship in Santa Clara will be the fourth time the two coaches have met in as many years. And if Swinney wins, it could mark a changing of the guard—unless, of course, you believe Swinney plans to take over the Crimson Tide when Saban steps down.

In which case, the Machine might just roll on, albeit a bit more cheerfully.