Dabo Swinney is always three steps ahead of everyone else

The subtle genius that is Dabo Swinney is on full display for those paying attention.

There are a lot of rumors going around that Clemson football offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is going to be the next head coach at Tennessee and if so, Tennessee fans are hoping that it creates an issue with recruiting at Clemson.

However, I would caution Tennessee fans not to get too excited about that as Dabo Swinney is already three steps ahead of you.

Of course, when you lose coaches, players are going to think twice about leaving. Whether the NCAA, fans are coaches truly want to admit it, players commit to coaches, not the school or the brand. They develop deep-seated relationships during the recruiting process and that is what an athlete picks a school over another.

Should Tony Elliott leave for Tennessee, Dabo Swinney already has his replacement in place – college football legend CJ Spiller.

Before you get all bent out of shape about Spiller not being the play-caller, let me explain.

The most important piece that Tony Elliott brings to the Clemson football program is his ability as a running backs coach. He is an okay play-caller – though one could argue he isn’t as nearly as good as the stats indicate especially when you look at the lack of imagination when it comes to route concepts and ability to take advantage of matchups.

However, what you cannot argue is his ability to develop running backs and that is where he would be missed the most.

Since his arrival in 2011, Tony has developed four NFL running backs – Andre Ellington, Zac Brooks, Wayne Gallman, and of course the best running back to ever play in the ACC, Travis Etienne.

Dabo Swinney is playing chess.

This last summer, Dabo Swinney knew he had to get former tight ends coach Danny Pearman off the field when the story was revealed that he used the “n-word” at a former player. While context usually matters, not in this case and not ever when that word is used.

It is offensive, disgusting, and has no use coming out of a football coach’s mouth for any reason.

However, Dabo will be dammed if he gives in to the mob mentality of the cancel culture, so he waited and got Pearman off the field on his terms and no one else’s. He replaced him with Elliott as the new tight ends coach while promoting one of the best players in Clemson football lore, CJ Spiller, to running backs coach.

Every player today has seen the highlights of CJ from not too long ago, a matter of fact it is not a stretch to say that many players wanted to be a running back after watching CJ highlights on ESPN.

The way Dabo made the swap was brilliant. The headline was not “racist coach moves into a non-coaching role at Clemson”, the headline was “College football Hall of Famer takes a job as running backs coach at Clemson”.

If Tony does in fact get the job at Tennessee, do not expect to see one unsigned commit nor one signed and enrolled player to leave. It did not happen in 2020 when Jeff Scott left and it surely will not happen when Tony does.

Dabo Swinney may come across as some dumb redneck to those outside Clemson, but to those inside, we know he is always playing with a full deck and a card up his sleeve.