Dabo Swinney praises Tony Elliott for turning around Virginia program

In the first half of the 2025 college football season, one of the pleasant surprises has been the Virginia Cavaliers. There, head coach Tony Elliott has moved himself off the hot seat with a 5-1 start and turned the Cavaliers into, seemingly, one of the best teams in the ACC.

Plenty of people have taken notice of Virginia around the country. That includes Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney. A key mentor for Elliott in his coaching career, Swinney is now singing his praises for turning around his program.

“Just super proud of Tony,” Dabo Swinney said. “I mean, I think they’re the epitome of a team that believes. They’re playing together, and they believe. That is a powerful thing when you get a team that is really, really together, and really, truly believes.”

Virginia has had its resurgence with quarterback Chandler Morris transferring into the program. The son of a coach, Chad Morris, who spent time on Dabo Swinney’s staff and worked with Tony Elliott, he’s helped spark the Cavaliers. It’s just another tie between the two ACC programs that has developed over the years and impressed Swinney.

“Then, Chandler,” Swinney said. “I’ve known Chandler forever. Since he was a little bitty kid. He’s just — the team’s kind of taken on his personality. He’s a fighter, he’s gritty, he’s got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. I don’t think he gets a lot of the credit, but he’s a tough little gritty dude. It’s just awesome.”

Tony Elliott would, of course, make his name as a long-time offensive assistant at Clemson under Dabo Swinney. A former wide receiver for the Tigers, he got there as an assistant coach in 2011 and worked his way up to offensive coordinator, winning two national championships in the process. He would later parlay that into the Virginia job.

When Elliott landed at Virginia in 2022, he inherited a .500 football team. However, he was immediately tested off the field with the tragic shooting that left three football players dead and another wounded. That, along with a general rebuild in the new era of NIL and the Transfer Portal, led to a rebuild and missing a bowl in each of Elliott’s first three seasons at Virginia. Now, however, he has the Cavaliers sitting at 5-1 and looking like very real contenders in the ACC.

“They’ve had what? Three losing seasons in a row, and they’ve been through a lot. I just couldn’t be more proud of Tony, and I’m so happy for him. I’m thankful for Carla [Williams] and the administration. Everybody up there for hanging in there with him. It would be very easy to just give up on a guy, but Tony’s special. He’s special. He always has been. It’s just fun to see. Hopefully, they can keep that going, but I’m super proud of him. The team, he’s got a team that’s playing. You win a couple of those games. You know, they had a couple of overtime wins,” Swinney said.

“But when you’ve got a team that’s truly together and a team that’s playing with an unshakable belief, magic can happen. Maybe sometimes you can win a game, maybe you’re not supposed to win on paper. When you do that, the next thing you know, you get a lot of synergy. So, it’s just been awesome. Tony’s, again, to think about what they’ve been through up there from when he first got that job, but I think that was God’s plan to take him there for that reason because he’s the right leader for what they’ve been through. He’s done a good job. The staff’s hung in there, and fun to see. Fun to see.”

Swinney and Elliott won’t see each other on the field this season. So, for now, both coaches don’t have to worry about that reunion. Instead, Virginia is focusing on Washington State after a bye week. Clemson, meanwhile, is turning its attention to a road trip to play Boston College.