Dabo Swinney will rely more on staff as he starts 1st full season as Clemson football coach

Clemson’s Swinney says he will rely more on staff

SUNSET, S.C. — Dabo Swinney plans to be less hands on in his first full season as Clemson’s coach.

Swinney became interim coach midway through last season when a team picked to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title struggled to a 3-3 start. Longtime coach Tommy Bowden left the job — earlier this month he said he was dismissed — and Swinney, Clemson’s receivers coach, was suddenly the top guy.

Swinney had never been a coach or a coordinator before and wasn’t sure he’d ever have a chance like this again. So he threw himself into every aspect of the program and let his emotions guide the effort, pledging to fans that he and the players would be “all in” or they wouldn’t take the field.

“The last six weeks (of 2008), I tried to do everything,” Swinney said. “I didn’t know where it was going to go, so I felt like I needed to have my hand in more than I should have.”

These days, Swinney has a five-year contract and a revamped staff he believes in.

“I’m very comfortable with the people that are surrounding me,” he said. “My role is to really manage the staff, the morale, the discipline, really determine the direction that we want the ship to go in.”

Sitting comfortably after a round of golf, Swinney looked more like a calm commander than the frenzied former assistant doing anything and everything he could a year ago to impress the boss.

Clemson fans frustrated by another missed opportunity under Bowden — the Tigers finished a game away from the ACC title game three times and never made it in Bowden’s nine full seasons — took to Swinney’s passion and plainspoken style.

When punter Dawson Zimmerman loafed to the sidelines late in Swinney’s first game as coach against Georgia Tech, the coach ordered him back out and made him run hard as the fans cheered.

Clemson also found comfort in Swinney’s ways. The Tigers won four of their final five regular season games, including a 31-14 victory over rival South Carolina that all but secured the job for Swinney.

Then the new head coach crafted a group that he thought held the same passion as he did.

Kevin Steele was brought in from Alabama to lead the defense. While Swinney and Billy Napier collaborated on play-calling during much of the season’s second half, Swinney said he will let his offensive coordinator make most of those decisions.

“It’s hard for me to pull back on some things. I’ve got certain instincts and my background is offense,” Swinney said. “I’m going to pull back a little bit and let Billy take it and go.”

Clemson’s offense will likely center on star runner C.J. Spiller. The Tigers’ “Lightning” has 12 career touchdowns of 50 yards or more and came back for his senior season even after learning he was projected as a first-round NFL draft pick.

The school Tuesday unveiled a 6-foot poster of Spiller to kick off the running back’s Heisman Trophy push.

Swinney said it makes sense to rely on Spiller as much as possible.

“He won’t be here next year, so we’ll saddle him up,” the coach said.

Swinney won’t get into projections or expectations. He’d rather prepare his team to successfully execute each play than count off the number of wins they should get.

His goal is 12-0. Is it conceivable?

“Was it conceivable sitting here last summer that I would be the coach now?” Swinney said. “Anything is conceivable.”