Could Clemson Football feel the same as Alabama if Dabo Swinney retired?

The Crimson Tide has lost ten players to the transfer portal since Nick Saban’s retirement.

Would Clemson face the same consequences if Dabo Swinney retired?

Clemson Football has been lucky to have Dabo Swinney as its head coach for many years. During that time, he has had significantly lower staff turnover than typical programs.

Nick Saban, Alabama’s head coach, had also been with the program for a long period. When he retired last week, the Alabama athletic department acted rapidly to locate a new head coach.

They hired Kalen DeBoer of Washington within three days. DeBoer recently led the Huskies to the national championship game. Most observers saw him as an excellent hire.

Regardless of what outsiders think of DeBoer’s hiring, players have decided to transfer to other programs.

Ten well-known players have entered the portal since Saban’s announcement.This is in addition to the twenty that were already in the portal when Saban retired.

The majority of the players that were already in the portal were not expected to have a significant impact on the Tide, but those who have left since are a different story.

Julian Sayin had the highest 247Sports Composite quarterback rating for the 2024 class. This past season, Caleb Downs named Alabama’s freshman All-American safety. Isaiah Bond and Kadyn Proctor are both 5-star transfer prospects, according to 247.

Only one of the ten departures had a rating of fewer than four stars from 247.

This surprises many who felt Alabama was too powerful of a school to endure such losses, even under such conditions, but it demonstrates how strongly some players believe their careers are linked to the resumes of the coaches surrounding them.

For Clemson fans, one wonders what the impact would be if Swinney decided to retire or leave the program.

On the surface, it appears like we will not have to worry about that anytime soon. Swinney is only 54 years old, far from Nick Saban’s age of 72.

However, we should avoid jumping to conclusions. Take Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, for example. He was barely shy of his 56th birthday when he announced his retirement as Sooners head coach. He did return for a brief interim stint when Lincoln Riley left for USC, coaching in a lesser league, but he has showed no desire to return to coaching.

One of the things we’ve heard since Saban resigned is that the ‘business’ of the new era of the transfer site and NIL was one of the things he disliked.

Swinney seemed to dislike the ‘transactional’ nature of college football as well. He shows no indications of slowing down, but it is unclear how his excitement will change in the future years.

Will Clemson suffer the same fate as the Crimson Tide if Swinney decides to resign or pursue a career in professional football? There are justifications for both options.

Swinney attempted to create his software using a different type of chemistry than most others. This has been criticized in many ways, but it has statistically resulted in a program that is less prone to annual turnover due to both the transfer portal and early entry into the NFL.

Would Swinney’s chemistry assist to avoid mass departures of elite players when he left? This would most likely depend on who Clemson hires to succeed him. If they hired from inside and the new head coach was someone the players knew would stick to the same program-building strategy (maybe Nick Eason?), the Tigers’ chances of losing major talent would likely be reduced.

While this may reduce the risk, it does not remove it in this day and age.

If the Tigers did not believe they have a viable candidate internally and sought an external hire, the program is likely to experience comparable exits as Alabama has in the last ten days.

It is worth noting that Alabama has already accepted four transfers, including one from Washington this week who followed DeBoer. The rippling effect of Saban’s retirement has resulted in a new surge of players to the site.

It is logical to assume that DeBoer and his staff will consider and accept several more transfers to fill out their roster. Alabama is still Alabama. They may not be the annual top three recruiters, but they will continue to attract talented individuals.

Time will tell how this affects the Tide in the long run, but it’s possible that this is merely a stumbling block. The same might be true for Clemson if Swinney decides to relax and enjoy his retirement.