Will Dabo Swinney make Clemson football staff changes? Where Tigers struggled in 2025
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CLEMSON — Clemson football is playing in a non-College Football Playoff bowl game for the fourth time in five seasons, and Tigers coach Dabo Swinney wants to change that.
Clemson (7-5) missed the ACC title game and College Football Playoff this season despite entering 2025 as favorites to make both. Instead, Clemson tied for seventh place in the ACC standings and suffered their most losses under Swinney since 2010.
The Tigers face Penn State (6-6) in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 (noon ET, ABC) at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York.
Swinney’s path to turning Clemson around may lie in getting back to his “instincts,” which he said in November that he has gotten away from. He recalled the “critical” and not “very popular” staff changes he made after the 2010 season when Clemson finished 6-7.
He fired running backs/special teams coach Andre Powell and offensive coordinator Billy Napier, then hired Chad Morris as Clemson’s new offensive coordinator and former Tigers receiver Tony Elliot as running backs coach. Swinney believed these moves were a key reason why Clemson enjoyed 14 years of success, including two national championships and nine ACC titles.
Fifteen years later, he may have to make similar staff changes. Clemson already lost senior offensive analyst/assistant quarterbacks coach John Grass to Samford, and he could take some Tigers assistants with him.
Clemson will also lose strength coach Joey Batson, who will retire after 27 seasons and be replaced by current assistant football strength and conditioning coach Dennis Love.
Here are other staff changes Swinney could consider to set Clemson up for success in 2026.
Will Dabo Swinney fire Garrett Riley as Clemson OC?
In Garrett Riley’s third season as offensive coordinator, Clemson regressed despite quarterback Cade Klubnik returning with an experienced offensive line and talented skill-position players. The Tigers averaged 28.7 points (61st in FBS; 10th in ACC) after averaging 34.7 in 2024 (18th; fourth).
The Tigers scored over 30 points four times this season. Last year, they scored over 30 seven times.
Swinney said his biggest frustrations with the offense were a lack of run game and not being efficient on third down. The Tigers averaged 131.2 rushing yards per game (99th) and were 55-of-160 (34.4%) on third downs (114th).
Swinney was critical of Clemson’s play-calling after losses to LSU and SMU when his team abandoned or failed to establish the run. Clemson rushed for 31 yards on 20 carries against LSU and 35 yards on 30 attempts vs. SMU.
Clemson’s third-down troubles caused its offense to stall at times and helped opponents get back into games, including against Georgia Tech and Louisville.
Clemson will have a new starting quarterback next season to pair with wide receivers Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore, so Swinney could start fresh with a new coordinator and offense.
If Clemson does fire Riley, it would be Swinney’s second straight season firing a coordinator after letting go of former defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin.
Will Dabo Swinney fire longtime defensive assistants?
Swinney has praised first-year defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who came from Penn State and helped fix Clemson’s run defense.
However, individual position groups were inconsistent, especially on the back end. The Tigers’ secondary had multiple coverage busts, notably in losses to SMU and Duke.
This led to changes in how meetings were structured with cornerbacks, nickel corners and safeties meeting together instead of separately. Allen’s son, defensive analyst/assistant linebackers coach Thomas Allen, oversaw the meetings instead of safeties coach Mickey Conn (hired as defensive assistant in 2016), cornerbacks coach Mike Reed (2013) and nickelbacks coach DeAndre Daniel (hired as graduate assistant in 2015).
With the improvement of Clemson’s secondary, Swinney could replace his longtime assistants with more of Tom Allen’s assistants to try to fix the defense’s woes.
If Swinney makes these changes, it would mark the third time since 2011 that Swinney has fired a non-coordinator assistant coach. That year, he fired Powell and Napier. In 2023, Swinney fired offensive line coach Thomas Austin and parted ways with defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at DCarter@usatodayco.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football staff changes coming for Dabo Swinney before bowl?
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