The 2024 offseason has been the wildest in some time for fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide. With things finally settling down following the program’s first coaching search in 17 years, many fans seem happy with the hiring of Kalen DeBoer.
However, at the beginning of the search, DeBoer’s name trailed behind several others in terms of media popularity. For example, several years before Nick Saban finally retired, one of the more popular candidates suggested for his eventual successor was Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.
The Pelham native played wide receiver at Alabama under Gene Stallings and helped the Tide win a national championship in 1992. He was hired at Clemson in 2008 and went on to build the Tigers into a dynasty, defeating Nick Saban in the national championship game twice during the 2010s.
But after the Tigers’ struggles over the last few seasons, one thing that Tide fans seemingly unanimously agreed upon was a lack of desire for Swinney to take over for Saban, even chanting ‘Anyone but Dabo!’ at the Walk of Champions during the search:
Students chant “anyone but Dabo!” in front of Bryant-Denny Stadium. @WVTM13 pic.twitter.com/3MPGDt7WQ9
— Brittany Decker (@BrittanyWVTM13) January 11, 2024
Of course, Alabama did not even consider Swinney for the job, in large part due to his resistance to the new landscape of college football and refusal to effectively use NIL and the transfer portal over the past few seasons.
But reporter Mike Griffith, the Georgia lead writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, had a strong take as to why Swinney should have been considered.
During on appearance on 105.5 WNSP-FM in Mobile, Griffith called it embarrassing for the school that Swinney did not get interviewed.
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“I still believe that Dabo Swinney should have gotten an interview,” Griffith said while admitting he was initially skeptical of the DeBoer hire. “I thought it was an embarrassment to the University of Alabama that they didn’t give him an interview. It was disrespectful and it’s not what Alabama stands for. The new administration needs a history lesson and understand who and what Swinney was for the University of Alabama. He deserved at least an interview.”
“I’m not saying that Dabo would have been a better hire [than DeBoer], but when someone plays for the university and represents the school and a lot of the things that Alabama stands for the way that he has and the respect that Nick Saban had for him. He beat Nick Saban twice and there’s a very short list of people who have done that… he deserved an interview at least.”
Griffith would go on to admit that he understood the DeBoer hire and expressed optimism as to what the former Washington coach will be able to do in Tuscaloosa in what has become a new era of college football.
If you want to hear Griffith’s full take, you can check it out right here:
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
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