Dabo Swinney breaks down what led Clemson to hire Mike Houston

Clemson‘s coaching staff got even stronger this offseason when it brought on former East Carolina head coach Mike Houston as a defensive assistant under new defensive coordinator Tom Allen and head coach Dabo Swinney.

Houston had been a head coach since 2011, slowly rising through the ranks from Lenoir-Rhyne to The Citadel to James Madison to East Carolina. As a head coach, Houston boasts a career 106-62 record with a win in the 2022 Birmingham Bowl. After a strong start at ECU, Houston led the Pirates to just a 5-14 record over the past two seasons, leading to his firing.

He was then hired as a defensive assistant at Clemson on Feb. 10. Swinney discussed the move to hire Houston at a media opportunity this week.

Mike Houston has been head coach since 2011

“I met Mike a long time ago,” Swinney said. “He was at Lenoir-Rhyne. He came down here and that was the first time I met him. So I’ve just kinda tracked him from there. And when he was at James Madison I had him come speak to our clinic. He’s just a guy that I’ve always had a lot of respect for and he reached out to me. When he reached out we had a conversation and I was like ‘if this is something you want to do it would be a good opportunity and good fit for us.’

“He’s got a couple of years left on his contract and he brings a lot to the table. I mean this is a winner. He’s been a head coach for a long time and certainly brings that perspective to the room as a defensive guy. And he knows [defensive coordinator] Tom [Allen], they had a bit of chemistry already. Just a good resource that’s available that you didn’t anticipate, so it was all positive and a great opportunity. Glad to have him on board.”

Clemson‘s defensive staff got a major overhaul this offseason, as the Tigers hired former Indiana head coach Tom Allen to lead the defense, promoted associate head coach & defensive tackles coach Nick Eason to assistant defensive coordinator and hired Houston.

Last season, Clemson‘s defense ranked 69th in the country in 374.1 yards allowed per game and ranked 51st in the country in points allowed per game (23.4).

The Tigers open the 2025 season in a massive matchup against SEC-foe LSU on August 30 at home. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.