During Clemson’s team meeting the Monday afternoon prior to the Notre Dame game, head coach Dabo Swinney put everyone in the room on notice.

According to some players, Swinney basically told everyone that from that moment they were all going to be evaluated and if he felt there was anyone who was not doing there all or living up to the standards that allowed Clemson to become one of the top programs in the country, then there would be changes.

Despite the Tigers winning their last four games to close out the regular season, including last Saturday’s 16-7 win over rival South Carolina, there were changes.

Since Tuesday, Clemson has had four players enter the transfer portal, including wide receiver Beaux Collins and tight end Sage Ennis on Thursday. Also on Thursday, Swinney announced he was parting ways with offensive line coach Thomas Austin, while he and Lemanski Hall mutually agreed Clemson needed a new defensive ends coach.

“Lemanski Hall and I met and had a great conversation about his future and long-term goals both personally and professionally, and after great thought and discussion, we came to a mutual decision for him to seek opportunities to advance his career elsewhere,” Swinney said.

Swinney’s decision to move on from Austin was an even tougher one. Austin played for Swinney when he was the interim head coach at Clemson and is one of the two players seen carrying Swinney off the field in that iconic photo following the Tigers’ win over South Carolina in 2008.

Austin played for Swinney in 2009 and then returned to Clemson after his NFL career as an offensive analyst, working on the 2016 and 2018 National Championship teams. After spending two years as the offensive line coach at Georgia State, Austin returned to Clemson in 2022 as Swinney’s offensive line coach.

“Today, I made the difficult decision to seek new leadership for the offensive line,” Swinney said. “It is my responsibility as head coach to make difficult decisions that I believe are in the best interest of our football program and the young men that comprise it. After a few days of deep thought and evaluation, I believe this was a change we needed to make.

“I love Thomas and his entire family, and Thomas has been a great representative of Clemson University and Clemson Football in every role — as a player, as a support staff member and as a coach. On the field, he was one of the best Tigers we’ve had, and his role as a captain and as a great leader is immortalized in concrete at Tiger Walk outside Memorial Stadium. I know God has a great plan for his future.”

As you can tell, neither move was easy for Swinney to make. He has known Hall since 1989 when they were teammates on the Alabama football team.

But like Swinney said, it is his responsibility as the head coach to make what is the best decision for Clemson, even if it hurts.

After not letting go of any of his coaches from 2011-’21, Swinney has now said goodbye to three assistants—three guys he was close to—in the last two years, as he tries to get the Tigers back to the top of the mountain.

Will he do it?

Time will tell, but right now he has proven he is going to do all he can to get there, even if it means saying goodbye to longtime friends.

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