ESPN REPORT: The Clemson Tigers Head Coach is Being Fired Due to…
Change can be beneficial at times.
Yeah, that includes Dabo Swinney.
Over the course of his 15 complete seasons as head coach, Clemson’s football coach has shown a great deal of commitment to his veteran assistants, but that is no longer the case.
That may be advantageous since loyalty to friends and associates can occasionally influence decisions that are taken, or more frequently not made.
It seems like Swinney has been around the block long enough to be immune to such influence.
After firing former Tigers quarterback and offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter last year, he made the announcement on Thursday that defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall and offensive line coach Thomas Austin—both former All-ACC players at Clemson—would be leaving the coaching staff.
This is a clear shift from Swinney’s prior views and his first non-coordinator termination since he parted ways with running backs coach Andre Powell in 2011.
Swinney said in a statement that Austin was let go in an effort to “find new leadership for the offensive line.”
It was announced that Swinney and Hall, who had been teammates at Alabama, were splitting up due to a “mutual decision for him to seek opportunities to advance his career elsewhere.”
Actually, assistant coaches—at least those at Clemson—are ready for this. They receive competitive pay, no doubt, but they also understand that the head coach’s hammer could fall at any time.
This is the reality of being an assistant coach in elite college football. The field of play is as uneven and unstable as they come.
GONE GUYS: Dabo Swinney, the head coach of Clemson football, and assistants Thomas Austin and Lemanski Hall part ways
Assistant coaches are typically only as good as the players they sign, and the offensive line of the Tigers hasn’t exactly shown itself to be a strength of the club lately. Furthermore, an offensive line’s performance ultimately determines how successful an offense will be, therefore it can become a source of pride or dispute.
In the end, Austin’s downfall was caused by the latter, who has been winning the last few seasons. It didn’t help that Pro Football Focus had the Tigers ranked 95th in run block grade and 73rd in pass block grade in the nation.
After an 8-4 season and missing the College Football Playoff for three years in a row, we all suspected that changes were in the offing, and Swinney’s most recent actions show that he has, at least somewhat, modified his ways.
