Dabo Swinney played football at Alabama. People in the college football industry have long wondered if "Mama" would call Dabo home and ask him to coach the Crimson Tide in the post-Nick Saban era. After Clemson got crushed by LSU on Saturday, it seems abundantly clear that Dabo will never be the head coach in Tuscaloosa. Let's make this point very clear.
Noncompetitive
The reality of Clemson's game against LSU is that it was noncompetitive. It was nolo contendere. No contest. LSU had roughly 500 more yards, nearly 240 more rushing yards. It was over by halftime. It was a total bloodbath.
Dabo Swinney - sincere but unserious
Dabo Swinney has been sincere in not liking the transfer portal, but that sincerity is nevertheless unserious in today's college football world. Christopher Vizzina is not a big-time
college quarterback. Dabo is unserious about acquiring the best players. He is miles behind the rest of the industry. That would never, ever fly at Alabama if Kalen DeBoer struggles this year and gets fired, creating a job opening in Tuscaloosa. Dabo has very plainly removed himself from the Bama conversation if DeBoer craters and gets the pink slip this December.
Clear contrast
Several years ago, Dabo Swinney didn't just bring the best players into his program - Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, etc. - he kept them around for extra seasons. The transfer portal era has completely flipped that dynamic. Dabo doesn't get the best players anymore. He has no long-term stability right now in terms of roster retention. Clemson hasn't been a relevant program for most of the past five years. Alabama's athletic department and any other top athletic department can't trust Dabo to create an architecture which fits the modern era of college football.
Lane Kiffin
Losing by one point to Lane Kiffin would have stung. Losing by 41 to Lane Kiffin is the kind of bloodbath Alabama fans and boosters will view as disqualifying for the Crimson Tide head coaching job.
Clemson crisis
Forget the Bama job; Dabo Swinney is now in a fight just to save his job at Clemson. The powers that be inside the university have to sit Dabo down and gain a firm commitment from him to pursue the best players. Clemson can give Dabo the resources he needs, but Dabo really needs to commit to the pursuit of talent, especially at quarterback and the other skill positions. If Dabo can't make real progress there, Clemson brass must have the tough conversation with the most successful coach in school history.
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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Now it's official: Dabo Swinney will never be head coach at Alabama
