Clemson: Nick Saban Has Questions About Dabo Swinney's Rebuild
· Yahoo Sports
Before NIL and the transfer portal ruled college football, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban was the most accomplished coach in the country.
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Urban Meyer was a thorn in Saban's side when he was at Florida and Ohio State, but arguably Saban's biggest threat was Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, who went toe-to-toe with the Crimson Tide and won two national championships.
Alabama and Clemson traded wins in the College Football Playoff from 2015 to 2018, with the Tigers winning the national title in 2016 and 2018.
During an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" this week, Saban suggested Swinney has plenty of questions to answer this season at Clemson. Saban noted the quarterback position was a big uncertainty for the Tigers.
“I think we’ll see if they’re back,” Saban said, via a transcription from On3. “I know they’ve got a lot of question marks too, whether it’s quarterback, and they got a lot of holes to fill. I mean, everybody thought they were going to be, you know, the class of the town last year, and it just completely disintegrated on them.
“So I don’t know. I’m not ready to put my stamp on it. I have to see it first, but I think in that league, somebody better beat Miami because I think you know Mario's (Cristobal) got it going down there, and they got some good players, and they’re physical.”
Saban's criticism is the common sentiment around college football this offseason.
Saban left college football amid changes to the sport. Swinney decided to stay with Clemson, though he's been reluctant to add elite transfers at certain positions to make it easier to win the ACC.
During the ACC Kickoff media event earlier this month, Swinney acknowledged that it was a risk to leave the quarterback battle up to Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds rather than to add a proven player in the transfer portal.
"We weren't going to go get a shiny object (transfer) at quarterback," Swinney said, via Brett McMurphy of On3. "If it doesn't work out, we're going to be raked over the coals."
There's a very good chance that decision could bite Swinney this fall.