Dabo Swinney not surprised to see college coaches leaving for NFL
CLEMSON — College football assistant coaches leaving for the NFL is becoming more and more popular in recent years.
Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken taking the Baltimore Ravens OC job last month is one of the more recent high-profile coaches to make the move.
Money doesn’t appear to be the driving factor in these moves — instead, it’s time.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney doesn’t expect the trend to slow down as long as the college coaching calendar continues to be what it is.
“There’s no question that where we are in college football right now from a calendar standpoint — it’s crazy,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said earlier this week. I mean especially for the assistant coach.”
In addition to game planning and leading a position group, assistant coaches also recruit just about year round.
There’s always a prospect to call, text, visit, evaluate film of, talk to coaches about, etc.
That’s not the case in the NFL. Sure, the hours are insane during football season, but there’s a true offseason in the NFL.
“It’s not a surprise to see a lot of guys that have made that move, just because when football’s over, football’s over,” Swinney said. “You’re not dealing with recruiting and all that type of stuff.”
Clemson hasn’t had any coaches leave for the NFL in the past couple of years, but Swinney acknowledged that it’s certainly possible moving forward.
“Right now there’s just a lot of uncertainty and a lot of chaos in college football,” he said. “So I’m not surprised by it, but I’m not worried about it as far as guys doing it, if that’s what they want to do.”
5 Clemson WRs standing out
Clemson has a clear top five at receiver this spring, although not all five are healthy at the moment.
The Tigers will rely primarily on Cole Turner, Antonio Williams, Adam Randall, Beaux Collins and Brannon Spector this fall. Troy Stellato could also get into the mix whenever he fully returns from his torn ACL.
“Cole, Antonio, Adam, Beaux and Spector – those five guys right there should really butter our bread a little bit. That’s where it should start,” Swinney said. “If we can get Stellato healthy, he can help us. He was having a great fall camp [in 2022] and he tore his ACL.”
Clemson also signed four players in the class of 2023 who have either already joined the program or will be joining it this summer.
Noble Johnson is already on campus, while Misun Kelley (Tink), Tyler Brown and Ronan Hanafin will arrive in a few months.
“Obviously you’ve got Tyler and Tink and Ronan and all those guys coming. Noble’s here this spring,” Swinney said. “Super excited about seeing him. He looks the part, and he can move the way you ought to be able to move. We loved him in the recruiting process. He’s looked great in our offseason program. So anxious to see him get out there.”