Dabo Swinney entered the offseason with plenty of questions surrounding Clemson after the Tigers fell short of the expectations that have followed the program for years. After two seasons without a playoff appearance, Swinney’s approach to roster building and his ability to keep Clemson among the sport’s elite have been questioned. But heading into the new season, the coach has found a couple of reasons to feel good about the program he has built.
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Swinney recently revealed that two former Clemson wide receivers are making their way back to campus, offering a glimpse into the kind of connection his program has made with its former players.
Chapel Fowler shared on X that Clemson coach Dabo Swinney revealed, “former Tigers WR Justyn Ross is back on campus taking classes. Also says former Clemson WR Deon Cain will back in school soon, too.”
This is a nice story for Swinney and Clemson, but there is another reason the coach might be feeling a little less pressure heading into the season. It could be Lane Kiffin and his offseason controversies.
During an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Joel Klatt asked who has more pressure heading into this season between Lane Kiffin and Swinney. Klatt didn’t hesitate to say “Lane Kiffin” and broke down why.
“Dabo just have enough in the tank, right? I mean, like, he’s won national championships at Clemson. Meanwhile, Lane Kiffin, you know, Lane Kiffin makes one of the more selfish moves in the history of college football, and I’m not blaming him for it, but it was. Let’s just call it what it was. Leaving Ole Miss in the middle of their playoff run, and now he’s at the center of this eligibility controversy, which is a mess.
“The Tigers spent upwards of $45 million on the roster, all that money to get him, and you look at the expectations at LSU, and I personally think that it’s not about LSU being like, ‘Oh, we just want to be competitive.’ No, no. You’ve got to go compete for SEC titles. You’ve got to go to the playoff. You’ve got to win games in the playoff. I don’t know if that’s the expectation of Clemson fans right now,” Joel Klatt further added.
That is where the situation works in Swinney’s favor. If Kiffin had remained at Ole Miss, much more of the national attention could have remained on Clemson and its recent struggles. Swinney would have entered the season facing another round of questions about whether his program was falling behind in the modern era of college football. Instead, Kiffin’s move to LSU has created a much bigger storyline, with the coach now dealing with the controversy and expectations that came with one of the sport’s most scrutinized moves.
The contrast is also interesting when looking at the two programs. While LSU is fighting tooth and nail to allow former rookies, Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to play, Clemson has former players coming back to complete their education. It may not be the biggest story in college football, but for Swinney, it is another example of the type of program he believes he has built beyond what happens on the field.
Swinney even offered a bit of a jab at Lane Kiffin. While discussing senior running back Adam Randall and how valuable he was for Clemson last season, Swinney joked, “He’s playing for the Ravens now. Maybe if they would’ve waived him, we could’ve gotten Adam back. That would’ve been nice.”
However, Swinney is certainly not free from pressure. Clemson still needs to show that it can compete with the best teams in the country, and another disappointing season would bring the questions right back. But compared with Kiffin, Swinney has something very important on his side: his history. He has already won two national championships at Clemson and built the Tigers into one of the best programs in college football.
As Klatt said, Swinney is “kind of a legend in the seat.”
A couple of years ago, Swinney could have been one of the biggest coaching stories in college football. Now, everyone is watching Kiffin and LSU. Clemson is being overlooked by many people, and some already expect the Tigers to struggle after falling out of the preseason Top 25 and missing the playoffs for another year in a row. If Swinney proves those people wrong, he could quickly change the conversation around his program. For now, though, Lane Kiffin’s LSU situation has given Dabo something he badly needed: a little less attention.