This past Sunday, I read Will Vandervort’s (Roy Philpott’s? It’s really hard to tell) post about why Swinney “will get the job done”, whatever the hell that actually means. He concludes:

There is no doubt in my mind that Dabo Swinney will get the job done at Clemson. His history says he will.

I find his abundance of faith disturbing.

I mean, no doubt? None? Zero? Nada? Is he even aware that “no doubt” isn’t just some band?

Anyway, let’s look to the article for Dabo’s history:

He was an A-student in high school despite playing three sports and dealing with serious family issues at home, and keep in mind he was still trying to be a teenager.

Was he an A-student or a valedictorian?

He somehow worked his way to the University of Alabama – his dream at the time – to attend school. Despite those that said there was no way he could make it or could find the funds to attend college, he made it happen.

Good for him, but lots of people go to college.

“I was going to be a doctor. I majored in biology and was going to make something of myself. I wanted a better life.”

FAIL.

When he decided to walk on to the football team at Alabama people laughed at him and coaches said they doubted he could make the team. What did he do? He made the team.

When he said he was going to earn a scholarship and was going to play instead of just being a punching bag for the starters, again people doubted him. What did he do? He played and he won a national championship by doing it.

Great, he made the team. That’s quite an accomplishment. Maybe played with all of his potential, but that didn’t make him the best on the team or anything. Effort is only part of this equation.

When he decided he was going to be a coach at Alabama, he became one of the best young assistants in the country.

“One of the best”, or “the best”? “One of the best young assistants”, or “one of the assistants in the country, period?”

While staying at Alabama and working out in the summer, Swinney took on a job as a door-to-door salesman for a knife and kitchen company. What did he do? He became one of the company’s top salesmen and was honored for such.

After leaving Alabama in 2000, Swinney got involved in commercial real estate at AIG Baker. What did he do?

“I made more money than I had ever made in my life while I was there,” Swinney said.

Apparently he didn’t even rank as one of the best commercial real estate people at AIG, let alone in the entire industry.

After joining the Clemson staff, Swinney was out to prove he made the right choice. He instantly became a difference maker as Clemson’s wide receivers coach – coaching an All-ACC first-team receiver each year as the position coach – while becoming one of the top recruiters in the country.

Did he turn the player into an All-ACC receiver? Or was he just the coach of a kid who was going to do that anyway?

Only All-ACC? Not All-American?

Again, “one of the top recruiters”, or “the top recruiter”?

Then last year came. No one gave Clemson a shot to do anything after the school fired Tommy Bowden at midseason. I heard some say; “the Tigers would not win another game.” But Swinney again proved he can get the job done.

There are those out there that say he isn’t a proven coach. Hello! If getting your team to go 4-2 when all else seemed lost than I don’t know what a proven coach is.

By the way, I’m not counting the Georgia Tech game because having less than three days to prepare for a team with all that was going on you can’t really count that. Clemson University should be charged with that loss. And even with all that, Clemson nearly won that game.

The job was to go 4-and-fucking-2?

Here’s a tip, Will/Roy, you don’t know what a proven coach is. Not that it really matters though, because proven coaches stink up the sidelines all the time.

By these accounts, Dabo has done pretty well with the opportunities he’s had. That’s great. However, he has rarely been the best. If he’s only one of the best head coaches in the ACC, then that won’t be good enough. More importantly, if you look at any head coach in college football, you will undoubtedly find a string of successes in their life. No one makes it to the top by sucking. But plenty of people make it to the head coaching level only to find out for the first time that they can’t will their way into success. The phrase, “past returns are not an indication of future performance” should be flashing in big bright lights in your mind right now. And on that Will/Roy can say that they have “no doubt”? That implies a serious lie, serious lack of thought, or a seriously low bar for whatever “the job” is. I hope that Dabo goes on to be a great coach, or at least, one who can win some ACC crowns and maybe even a national one. There is some chance that will actually happen. But only time will tell.

Posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 8:00 am by Broken Gnome

Filed under Clemson.

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