Clemson AD shares his thoughts on Alabama’s potential interest in Dabo Swinney
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Whenever Nick Saban decides to walk away from coaching the Crimson Tide, most everyone assumes Dabo Swinney will get the call to come home.
That’s something that even Clemson AD Dan Radakovich thinks about. While not concerned about losing Swinney, the leader of the school’s athletics department understands that he has to be ready in case that day ever arrives.
After winning the national championship in 2016, the school rewarded Swinney with the second richest deal in college football at the time — trailing only Saban’s deal. The Clemson coach followed that up by winning another ACC title and taking Clemson to its third consecutive College Football Playoff.
Radakovich thinks both the support the school has shown Swinney and the level of winning the program has proven it can achieve speak for themselves compared to other potential programs.
“I certainly hope that we’ve been able to demonstrate to Dabo that you can get to the highest level right here at Clemson, and he’s been able to do that. So there’s so many positives about the university,” Radakovich said according to Matt Connolly of The State.
“We have a great Board of Trustees. We have an incredible president. We have some alignment going there that has allowed us to do our job, and I think that you don’t find that everywhere, but we have it here. I think that’s a big X factor.”
While many point to the ties Swinney has with Alabama, Radakovich referenced the roots the Clemson coach and his family have built and developed over the years with the Tigers. That’s something many who may assume he’ll leave for Tuscaloosa, given the opportunity, often overlook.
“We worked last summer to be able to get him into a good place that he was comfortable with and we were comfortable with, so we’re happy and I hope he’s happy,” Radakovich said. “They just built a new home here and his son is on the team. I think he’s in a really good place.”
Keep those comments in mind should the day come Saban calls it a coaching career. It’s no slam dunk that Swinney will up and leave his own ACC juggernaut to jump back into the shark-infested waters of the SEC.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
