Swinney’s staff branches out
Clemson head coach sees assistants succeed
CLEMSON, S.C. – Three teams in the Southeastern Conference East Division are led by Nick Saban acolytes, and a fourth, Kentucky, features one degree of separation — Mark Stoops got his boost from working under former Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, who in turn learned his craft at Saban’s feet. The most recent addition to this club, Tennessee’s Jeremy Pruitt, was made official on Dec. 7, closing the Volunteers’ long and laborious coaching search.
One day earlier, to slightly less fanfare, Arkansas announced the hiring of former SMU head coach Chad Morris. In Morris, the Razorbacks hope to rekindle the fast-paced offensive tempo that defined the success of the recent Bobby Petrino era, only without the drama and motorcycles.
Forgotten amid Tennessee’s missteps, Chip Kelly’s return to college at UCLA, the Scott Frost hire at Nebraska and the overall cycle of coaching moves, Morris’ move to Arkansas largely failed to reverberate on a national scale. But it was noteworthy in a respect that echoes beyond the Razorbacks program.
Morris, once Clemson’s offensive coordinator before taking the job at SMU, became the first branch on Dabo Swinney’s coaching tree to take root on the Power Five ranks. While Saban’s former lieutenants dot the college football map, Swinney’s has taken longer to establish — but Morris is just the first of what should be several to find homes in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
One recent post-practice media availability featuring Swinney’s top assistants helped to illustrate that point: Between defensive coordinator Brent Venables on one hashmark inside Clemson’s indoor practice facility and co-offensive coordinators Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott near another, it’s just a matter of time before Swinney’s tree officially blooms.
“Learning from Coach Swinney I think is going to prepare all of the coaches, not just the coordinators but all of us, for future opportunities,” said Scott, a member of Clemson’s coaching staff since Swinney’s promotion as interim coach midway through the 2008 season.
It happens to every program. Winning brings eyeballs and it brings attention, with one byproduct the inevitable departure of assistant coaches to programs looking to replicate the formula. Some such hires work out, as with former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart at Georgia. Others not so much. While Smart has been a smash hit, Derek Dooley was a flop at Tennessee, Will Muschamp struggled to find consistency in his first SEC go-round at Florida and Jim McElwain bit off more than he could chew as Muschamp’s replacement with the Gators.
One thing Saban has been able to do, however, is reload and repeat. His last two defensive coordinators are SEC head coaches. The two offensive coordinators preceding Brian Daboll are FBS head coaches. Yet the Crimson Tide never miss a beat. It’s a testament to the program, not to mention to the head coach who made it happen.
So as the Swinney tree begins to take shape, it’s worth wondering if Clemson could maintain its own dynasty while his loyal assistants take a step up the coaching ladder. Scott has been there throughout. Elliott since 2011. Venables arrived a year later. As at Alabama, fellow FBS programs will look to export the Dabo process — because if you can’t beat it, you might as well imitate it.
“He really, really takes pride in watching his coaches grow,” Elliott said of Swinney. “He believes that’s one of his jobs, to develop his staff.”
It’s also worth considering what coaching at Clemson has taught Swinney’s assistants and how that experience could translate to a second location. Asked to describe the Clemson method, the three coordinators issue similar feedback: consistency, vision and culture, and not schemes and onfield coaching philosophies.
“Football is just what we do, it’s not really who we are,” Venables said. “He creates an incredible culture that builds up instead of tears down young people. He keeps the main thing the main things. He lets us enjoy our life as husbands and fathers and does a super job of making sure our players have a great college experience.”
It wasn’t easy to make Clemson into the greatest threat to Alabama’s decadelong hegemony over the highest rung of college football, Elliott said, and there was no “magic formula” to replace years of underachievement with one national championship and a strong shot at another.
“It was really just being consistent, having a vision, developing a culture, all those things.”
This philosophy can be taken elsewhere, though it’s unknown whether the themes that have defined the Swinney era could be replicated with a program other than Clemson — almost assuredly one of the more unique stops across the FBS level. But there’s strength in the ideas: Coaches who build their programs more so on themes than on schemes construct firmer foundations. See Saban, for example.
“We believe in his vision and we believe in who he is as a person,” Elliott said. “So a lot of things that any one of us will do, not just myself but any of the coaches, I’m pretty sure we’ll take a lot of the core fundamental values. Because it’s right for the game of football, it’s right for developing young people and it’s right for developing your staff.”
The same is true at Clemson. Through fits and starts, Swinney has made a program built to last, through personnel changes and staff moves alike. Morris once left for SMU; Swinney promoted Elliott and Scott, and the Tigers didn’t just not miss a beat but got better, with last year’s title as evidence. So there’s really no need to wonder if the nascent Clemson dynasty will suffer once Swinney’s loyal crew spreads the gospel outside the Tigers’ front door.
And don’t forget: Elliott, Scott and Venables aren’t going anywhere — for another season, at least. The band remains intact. Any concern that does exist can be tabled for another day or another year. But the future exodus of Swinney’s crew isn’t a potential turning point for the Tigers but rather a testament. Everyone wants to be Clemson. And if you can’t get Swinney, aim for the next-best thing: the group that helped him construct a program made to last.
“He lets us do what we need to do,” Elliott said. “I think the fact that we’ve been together for so long, been around him, we think alike. We’re all on the same page.”