Dabo Swinney’s biggest regrets as head coach of Clemson football.
Clemson football is at the top of college football. Despite five straight College Football Playoff appearances, four national title games and two national titles, not every move that Dabo Swinney has made has been the right move.
Coach Swinney is not the type of man to have regrets. He preaches about how everything works out the way that it was supposed to. However, that does not mean that every decision has been perfect. One of Swinney’s best attributes is that he learns from his lesson and does not make the same mistake twice.
With that said, let’s take a look at Dabo Swinney’s biggest mistake at the helm of Clemson football.
Dabo Swinney selects Cole Stoudt to lead Clemson football
Deshaun Watson was a big deal when he arrived on campus in January 2014. Tiger fans everywhere had been told what a program changer he was and that he was going to be the young man that led Clemson football to new heights.
While all of that was true, Dabo Swinney was hesitant to put him on the field as a true freshman in 2014. In the first game of his freshman year, Clemson took the field less than an hour away from Deshaun’s hometown of Gainesville, GA.
Sitting in the stands in Athens, it was clear when Deshaun took the field on the fourth series of the game for the Tigers that he was the better quarterback and everyone from players to fans knew it. His 30-yard touchdown strike to Charone Peak was a throw that no Clemson quarterback had ever made and was one most NFL quarterbacks can’t make.
As we know, when Dabo finally handed the offense over to Deshaun, magic happened. After starting the season 1-2 under Cole Stoudt, Deshaun took over and rattled off six straight wins as he led Clemson over UNC, NC State, Louisville, Boston College, Syracuse, and Wake Forest.
The decision to not turn the keys over to Deshaun immediately cost Clemson football two games in 2014 – at UGA and at FSU. In the grand scheme of things those two games didn’t define Dabo Swinney, however, the FSU game, in particular, did cost them the ACC Atlantic title in 2014.