2011's Fun CFB Team

Some might say he's a little odd, others think he's to emotionally involved to be an effective head coach but the fact is that Dabo Swinney is making it fun to watch Clemson Football in 2011. In the preseason I listed Dabo as the top head coach on my coaches hotseat rankings, but after 4 weeks Swinney has proven my rankings wrong. There are no longer negative attitudes surrounding the Clemson program and the Tigers are finally living up to their potential.

The 2010 season couldn't have gone worse for Clemson and Dabo. Coming off a 2009 Atlantic Division Championship, there was some hope that the 2010 season could be just as successful. Entering the Auburn game Clemson was 2-0 and looking to pull a slight upset in Jordan Hare Stadium. The first half saw Clemson take control early as Clemson led at halftime 17-3, but the 2nd half was a disaster and Cam Newton started to show the early signs of a Heisman Candidate. Auburn would outscore Clemson 21-0 in the 3rd quarter and end up winning the game in overtime. The devastating loss seemed to effect Clemson the next few weeks as the Tigers dropped 3 straight to start the year 2-3. Clemson was able to recover and won 4 of its next 6 heading into its season finale against South Carolina.

Clemson had not lost to South Carolina in back to back seasons since the days of Frank Howard. Even though the Gamecocks were SEC East Champs, Clemson fans weren't going to be happy with back to back losses to Spurrier's bunch. Clemson did jump out to an early 7-0 lead, but then was dominated the rest of the game and were beaten down by South Carolina 29-7. Fans weren't happy with Dabo and it certainly appeared as if South Carolina had taken control over the Palmetto State Rivalry.

Then things got worse. Clemson went into the Meineke Car Care Bowl as favorites over first year coach Skip Holtz's South Florida Bulls. USF was at best a mid tier Big East schools still growing as a program under Holtz, so it appeared as if Clemson would avoid its first losing season since 1998 with a bowl win. 90% of the crowd was in favor of the Tigers in what was basically a small home game for Clemson in South Carolina border town Charlotte, NC. Holtz's team jumped out to a big lead and a Clemson rally fell short as the Tigers lost 31-26 to end the year 6-7.

How was Dabo going to survive the school's first losing season in 12 years? How would he survive back to back losses to Clemson's biggest rival? Things weren't looking good for Dabo. Swinney knew some changes had to be made if he was going to win the fans praise in the 2011 season. Two key hires were made after the season. First Dabo went out and got Chad Morris, the offensive coordinator at Tulsa. Morris' 2010 offense at Tulsa scored 538 points and was the key to Tulsa's 10-3 season. Morris brought a fast paced attack to Clemson that was similar to the one Gus Malzahn won a National Championship with at Auburn. Swinney also hired Robbie Caldwell to coach the offensive line. Caldwell had just finished 1 season as Vanderbilt's head coach, but has been regarded as one of the top offensive line coaches in The South for many years. Clemson struggled to score in 2010 and that was one thing Dabo Swinney was going to make sure wouldn't be a problem in 2011.

Dabo then went out and pulled in a fantastic recruiting class, shocking many by stealing 5 star prospects Sammy Watkins, Mike Bellamy, Tony Steward, and Stephone Anthony from their instate schools. The 2011 Clemson Tiger recruiting class was ranked #8 overall by Rivals.com. If Dabo was going down, then he certainly was ready to go down swinging.

The coaching moves and the stellar recruiting have paid off for Clemson in 2011. The Tigers are now 4-0 and ranked top 15 by both polls. Clemson, a team that for nearly 2 decades has underachieved more than any program on the East Coast is now starting to show its potential.

Clemson's offense is as exciting as any in college football today. At QB you have Tajh Boyd, a sophomore QB who at one time was told by Tennessee Coach Lane Kiffin that he would never play QB at UT. The young man that Kiffin wanted to move to another position is on pace to throw for near 4,000 yards this year, but the most impressive stat is that he has thrown 13 TDs and only 1 INT. Not bad for a first year starter with 2 more years in his career. Boyd's top target this season has been true freshman Sammy Watkins, who was named on the Biletnikoff Award List after playing only 4 college football games. At running back you have junior Andre Ellington, who is on pace for a 1,000 yard rushing season after spending much of last year banged up with a toe injury. This offense comes at you in so many different ways and with it's fast, no huddle approach the Tigers have defenses on their toes at all time. When this unit is clicking it can be as dangerous as Oregon's attack.

To add to the fun on offense, Dabo Swinney is putting on a show on the sidelines. Swinney's cheerleader like antics on the sidelines is winning over his players and catching the eye of the national media. How many times in the past 2 weeks have you seen an interview with Swinney on the field with players and fans going crazy around him? Swinney's emotional postgame interviews are getting tons of media play and that's a positive when you are trying to attract new recruits and win over your own players. With the students running down the hill and to the Tiger Paw at midfield, Clemson has given the appearance as the most fun place to view a college football game.

I've always believed that Clemson had what it took to become a national power again.  Few would argue that Clemson has the best football fans in the ACC, the best gameday enviroment, the top stadium, and the top tradition(running down the hill).  Add that to a strong past that includes a national championship, seven top 10 finishes, 33 bowl appearances, and only 4 losing seasons in the last 35 years.  Clemson should always challenge for BCS appearances and with the excitement Dabo is building it appears as if the Tigers are finding how to realize that potential.

Clemson has long been one of the best gameday atmospheres in the country when the Tigers are at their best. If Swinney can keep this kind of excitement up in Tigertown then there is no reason to believe Clemson can't regain its spot at the top of the ACC that it had under Danny Ford in the 80s. What prospect isn't going to want to play for a program that is winning, scoring lots of points, and making the college experience fun? Clemson is selling itself perfectly to the college football world and Dabo Swinney is the man behind the marketing of the product.
Matt Barber
Dixiefriedsports@gmail.com
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