Clemson Tigers football coach Dabo Swinney isn't in danger of being fired like the Florida Gators' Billy Napier or the Arkansas Razorbacks' Sam Pittman.
Clemson Tigers football coach Dabo Swinney’s temperature deemed different than Billy Napier, Sam Pittman’s by USA Today originally appeared on The Sporting News
Clemson Tigers football coach Dabo Swinney’s seat is a much different temperature than the Florida Gators’ Billy Napier or the Arkansas Razorbacks’ Sam Pittman, according to USA Today’s Blake Toppmeyer. And it’s a good thing. Though not all good.
The only reason Toppmeyer believes Swinney is untouchable, unlike the other two in scorching SEC seats, is because he’s an all-time Clemson University legend – and his buyout is too much for the school to shoulder.
“If Swinney had Billy Napier’s record or Sam Pittman’s buyout, he’d be a candidate for the hot seat. He’s not in that position, because he’s Clemson’s best coach in program history, and he’s too expensive to fire, anyway,” Toppmeyer wrote in response to the Tigers’ embarrassing 34-21 home loss to the Syracuse Orange on Saturday.
Most don’t expect Napier to survive the campaign in Gainesville. Ditto for Pittman in Fayetteville.
Swinney has history and a massive buyout the Tigers’ brain trust likely don’t want to pay on his side, though. And a recent College Football Playoff appearance. Despite his unwillingness to fully adapt to the NIL era – owning an aversion to the transfer portal that is becoming harmful – firing Swinney would be massively unpopular. Those boosters who saw his program win two CFP titles and produce two franchise QBs in the NFL aren’t going to rush Swinney out the door.
Things are not going swimmingly in upstate South Carolina, though. By any stretch of the imagination.
Swinney’s team is now 1-3 on the year after losing to Syracuse in Week 4, last week to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 24-21, and in a 17-10 season-opening letdown against the LSU Tigers in August.
He may be safe this season, but no coach is safe for long in the modern era where money flies around fruit flies in the fall.
Category: General Sports
