On Wednesday morning, rumors began to surface about Texas A&M making a major push for Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney if Kevin Sumlin puts together another mediocre season.
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While I'm sure the Texas A&M brass would love to land Swinney — and might throw copious amounts of cash his way — there's absolutely no chance the Tigers' front man would consider leaving Clemson to lead the Aggies.
Here's what Matt Mosley, columnist for Texas Monthly said in a chat forum with SportsDayDFW. Mosley received a question about Chad Morris' future at SMU and beyond, but it turned into a bigger conversation about Texas A&M's plans if Sumlin doesn't pan out.
"What he really wants, of course, is the A&M gig," Mosely said about Morris. "But the Ags have their sites set a little higher. I think they will make a run at Dabo [Swinney] if things go south with Sumlin. I'm not saying he would leave, but they will LOAD UP. After that, it might be the man with the pearly white teeth, Chris Peterson out of Washington."
From the way Mosley framed that — it's obvious he's heard rumblings around College Station about a potential pursuit of Swinney. Mosley is as connected as anyone with that program — so I think there's a lot of truth in his statement.
While I'm sure Texas A&M will get the alumni involved and present a ridiculous offer to Swinney, there's no situation where I could see the Clemson coach departing for the Aggies' gig.
Much like Nick Saban at Alabama — Swinney has everything he wants at Clemson. Seriously, is there a school that would be viewed as a massive upgrade? I'm not convinced storied programs with clear coaches on the hot seat like Notre Dame, Tennessee, Auburn or anyone else could sway Swinney out of the Mecca he built.
Just look at what Swinney has done. The Tigers' are fresh off a national title with several more in sight — and just built a $55 million football facility equipped with an outdoor village, barber shop, slide and just about anything a potential recruit would want.
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Clemson owned the No. 11 recruiting class in 2016, No. 16 class in 2017 and currently have the No. 14 class for 2018 according to 247 Sports. Clearly that's not the recruiting dominance like we see from Alabama who is at the top every year — but Swinney is building toward that. Clemson secured Trevor Lawrence — the No. 1 QB prospect of the 2018 class and have Hunter Johnson — the top QB from 2017 — on the current roster.
There are plenty of other pieces for the future as well, including Tee Higgins, who Swinney and the Clemson coaching staff believe is the most talented wide receiver to play there since they have been leading the charge. That's high praise. The Tigers' also boast one of the more talented defenses in the country — and there's plenty of incoming, young talent on both sides of the ball.
Clemson continues to have big-name players selected in the first-round of the NFL Draft and beyond– which only enhances the program's brand as a whole.
Swinney has everything he wants at Clemson and is just starting to break through — turning a once struggling college football program into a perennial powerhouse. He ain't leaving for Texas A&M.. or anywhere else for that matter.
