BATON ROUGE, La. — The decline of the Clemson football program was on full display as the nation watched Saturday night’s disaster at Tiger Stadium. The time has come for changes.
For the record, I am not someone who believes that Dabo Swinney should be fired following Saturday night’s 51-10 loss, but another change should happen ASAP.
Yes, Clemson was an embarrassment to itself, the ACC and its fans. I am sure no one feels worse about it than head coach Dabo Swinney himself because he is directly responsible for the result as the head coach.
For the second offseason in a row, Swinney made a coordinator change hoping to get Clemson back to playing championship football. Coaching changes can make an impact, but the root cause of the problems continues to be roster management. Once again, offseason decisions about the use of the transfer portal left the Tigers short of talent in several critical positions.
And that brings me to my point. It is time for Clemson to seriously think about its future regarding the football program. Athletic Director Graham Neff needs to seriously think about quickly bringing in a true general manager to run the football program. Again, I am not saying fire Dabo Swinney.
Swinney has done more for this program than any coach before him and maybe after. What he did from 2011-2024 will more likely be unmatched in Clemson annals.
He has won two national championships, played for two others, played for four national titles in five years — something the great Nick Saban at Alabama never did — and appeared in six consecutive College Football Playoffs, at a time when only four teams made the playoff. Once again, something Saban never did.
My point? Dabo Swinney is a legend, and he deserves to go out like a legend.
However, great coaches don’t make great general managers. This has been proven over and over again in the National Football League. Just go to Chapel Hill and ask Bill Belichick. He was a horrible general manager at New England. Schools around the nation have brought in true general managers to run their football programs.
I know what you are thinking. “But Dabo Swinney doesn’t try to be the general manager at Clemson.”
Technically, that would be correct. However, we know that is not the case. Swinney and Clemson will tell you that Jordan Sorrells is Clemson’s general manager and that he and Kevin Kelly make all the decisions when it comes to structuring the football team (I am not advocating for anyone on the staff to be fired). If that is so, they are doing a horrible job based on what we saw at LSU’s Death Valley Saturday night.
However, I do not feel that is the case. Swinney gets the final say on every personnel matter, which technically makes him the general manager.
I can tell you, as someone who has been a fan of the NFL for decades, the head coach has a say in the direction they might go in selecting players, but it is always the general manager who makes the final call. In the NFL, the head coach works for the general manager. Not the other way around.
Nothing against Sorrells or Kelly, but we know they do not have the final say.
This is Clemson’s dilemma. This is where Neff needs to step in and hire a general manager — immediately — to fix what is clearly becoming a regular issue in the Clemson program. Bringing this person in quickly would allow them to be here for the season to analyze the current roster and determine how the Tigers should use the portal after the season. The general manager could also play a critical role in working to keep the 2027 class on board.
Neff needs someone who would work under him but who would be Swinney’s boss and be someone Swinney, or whoever is the head coach, would report to. This person would be in charge of all personnel matters, would control all money matters, and would work exclusively with Neff.
Swinney would still be the head football coach and would still have a say in personnel, but he would not be in charge of any compensation or final roster decisions.
I am not sure how Swinney would feel about this, but I believe this could be the best thing for Clemson and the best thing for Dabo Swinney’s legacy at Clemson.