Throughout his entire career, Dabo Swinney has made it clear that he's different than everybody else whether it's with his words or his actions. Swinney being different than the path is likely what helped him reach the top of the mountain in college football as he was at one point the biggest threat to Nick Saban's dynasty at Alabama.
After rising to the top of the sport, Clemson has slowly fallen back in with the rest of the pack as they haven't been able to put together a team that ranks among the best in College Football. Many have blamed Dabo Swinney being different for this fall off as well. While many raced to fill their roster with transfers, Swinney did the opposite at times refusing to use the transfer portal.
Dabo Swinney's different approach led to his own fanbase turning on him in a way as they started to grow sick of everyone else building a more talented roster while their coach took a "moral high ground". This season, Dabo Swinney has changed his approach a bit and in the lead up to the LSU game he discussed how everyone wants him to change but, that he'll have his own way of doing business.
"I know everybody wants me to change, and do things the way they want me to do them. But if we're not gonna be successful, it's not gonna be because we tried to do what everyone else wants us to do."Dabo Swinney
This offseason, Clemson went out and added three transfers which isn't much but, it's a sign that Clemson is starting to change a bit. The biggest addition and the biggest change is landing elite edge rusher Will Heldt who would normally be a player Clemson fans would love to have but, Swinney wouldn't engage the highly sought after player.
If Clemson goes on to win the National Championship this season, it'll effect Dabo Swinney's legacy in a massive way. Swinney would join an exclusive list as one of the few coaches with 3 National Championships and he'd arguably be the most impressive of the group to do it. Winning three National Championships in two different eras including one where players move more freely than ever would put Dabo Swinney in an All-Time debate with coaches nobody would've expected when he started his career.
When it's all said and done, everyone may look back and think that Dabo Swinney had it right all along with his approach to the portal. Every coach will declare that they want change but, for a long time Swinney was the only one taking action and if most programs followed his course, players wouldn't have the easy landing spots they currently do.
More Clemson Tigers News: