Josh Pate: 'The Dabo Swinney Model Doesn’t Work Anymore'
As usual, Pate is spot on here.
The landscape of college football is changing by the day, and the new mantra for any coach looking to stay in the game is "adapt or die."
One coach that has been dragged kicking and screaming into the NIL and transfer portal era of college sports is none other than Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney.
And this weekend's Pinstripe Bowl (aka The Disappointment Bowl) may have been the metaphorical death blow to Dabo's reign as one of college football's elites.
I've been on the "Dabo is done" train for a hot minute now, and one media personality who is with me (as he usually is) is Josh Pate.
Pate put it as bluntly as he could on the latest episode of his podcast, Josh Pate's College Football Show.
"This was going to be the year that if the Dabo model still worked, it would be proven," Pate explained, "and they went 7–6."
This was about as disappointing a season for a College Football Playoff contender outside of State College, PA, but according to Pate, things could get a lot worse for Clemson before they get better.
"On paper, next year should be worse for Clemson."
Brutal.
The "Dabo Model" Pate is referring to is the complete and utter dismissal of the transfer portal and reluctance to lean into NIL.
As I've said, an over reliance on the transfer portal can be just as damning as not using it at all (see Florida State), but there needs to be a healthy influx of talent from the portal if you want your program to survive in this day and age.
The truth is, even with Clemson's relative success in the recruiting ranks, that well was starting to dry up, and there was no other source of talent being infused into the team.
Unfortunately for Tigers fans, Dabo isn't willing to make the changes or adaptations to grow and evolve into a winning coach in 2025, a fact Pate knows all too well.
"Any sizable improvement at this point would require significant change, and I don’t expect Dabo Swinney to change.
"If you don’t adapt, you will die as a playoff contender," Pate said, echoing my earlier sentiment.
Will Clemson force Dabo's hand or let him ride off into the sunset as he dies on the hills of his old principles?
Time will tell, but Clemson fans have to be sick seeing the same man who built their program to such dizzying heights less than a decade ago be the very source of their downfall.
A cruel irony for a fanbase which deserves better.