Dabo Swinney and Deion Sanders did it their way.
The head coaches of the Clemson Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes are two of the more successful, polarizing, criticized, controversial, and marquee figures in modern college football.
This season, the two men publicly stuck to their guns, took all the slings and arrows from the doubters in both the media and the general public, and came out on the other end being proven right — at least for one season.
Swinney’s story has become Southern folklore.
He was a skinny walk-on wide receiver who became a member of Alabama’s famed 1992 national title team. He did that while living with his mama in an off-campus apartment. He worked as an assistant at his alma mater before moving to Clemson.
Swinney rose the ranks and took over as head coach in 2009 and led the Tigers to not only respectability but turned them into a national powerhouse, winning multiple ACC titles, making the College Football Playoffs six straight seasons, and winning two national championships.
Swinney did it all while wearing his faith on his sleeve and his folksy charm was refreshing, especially in the era of Nick Saban’s industrial machine in Tuscaloosa.
But after being routed by LSU in the national title game for the 2019 season, Clemson started showing some cracks.
The Tigers lost 10 games over the next three seasons, which equals its total for the seven seasons before that, and the program was coming off a nine-win season that snapped its run of 12 straight years of winning at least 10 games.
Dabo also seemed to struggle without the services of a generational Heisman candidate at quarterback, and the Clemson coach was one of the biggest opponents of the NCAA Transfer Portal. He famously stated that the Tigers always focused on “NIL” saying, “We built this program on NIL. We really did. We built this program in God’s Name, Image, and Likeness.”
That of course rubbed folks the wrong way.
Frustration grew around the program and things reached a boiling point last year. Dabo went on a viral rant about a caller — “Tyler From Spartanburg” — questioning why he was paid so much for being average. Swinney stopped taking live calls from fans.
This offseason Swinney doubled down on his anti-portal stance as Clemson was the only non-service academy school to not take a single player in the portal. Everyone thought Swinney was out of touch and that Clemson’s reign as one of the ACC’s best programs and a national brand was over. He came off like an out-of-touch dinosaur.
The nail in the coffin for Dabo appeared to occur in the season opener when Clemson was thumped 34-3 by Georgia. But a funny thing happened, the Tigers got better as the season progressed.
Even with losses to Louisville and South Carolina, Clemson was still good enough to play in the ACC Championship Game — a game it won on a 56-yard field goal to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoffs.
Despite his anti-portal stance and becoming one of the more unlikable coaches, Swinney led Clemson to 10 wins and a spot in the playoffs.
Sanders meanwhile had serious question marks of his own.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer earned his stripes as a high school coach, including serving as offensive coordinator for Trinity Christian High School where he had the chance to coach his sons.
Prime Time used his connections, fame, and influence to make the jump to the collegiate ranks. He took over Jackson State University — a small HBCU in Mississippi — and turned it into one of the most buzzed-about programs in the country — regardless of classification.
In three seasons, Sanders led Jackson State to 27 wins, including a record 11 wins in 2021 and two straight Celebration Bowl appearances.
He was able to coach his sons Shedeur and Shilo and famously flipped five-star prospect Travis Hunter from Sanders’ alma mater, Florida State.
Sanders also increased the profile of JSU and HBCUs.
There was his partnership with Barstool Sports, the Amazon Prime docuseries “Coach Prime” and he, his son Shedeur, and Hunter graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. Shedeur also got an NIL deal with Gatorade, the first HBCU player to do so.
Then Colorado came calling and Sanders jumped at the chance to coach at the FBS level, and of course, brought his sons and Hunter with him.
Overnight, Colorado became relevant for the first time since Kordell Stewart’s Miracle at Michigan in 1994. Ticket sales went through the roof, the roster was completely overhauled and all eyes were on what was going on in Boulder.
After Colorado upset defending national runner-up TCU in the season opener and won its first three games, the hype reached insane levels. Then the bottom fell out as the team lost eight of their final nine games, including six straight to end the season.
While folks lambasted Dabo for not taking players out of the portal, Deion took heat for taking too many players from the portal. That his approach didn’t work at this level, and that it was one thing to win at the FCS level with a few great players, but you can’t do that at Colorado.
The offseason made things worse as the roster was overhauled again — 44 new players — the most of any team in the FBS. Sanders and his son took jabs on social media at former players, which came off as immensely petty. There was also chatter or rumors that he showed special treatment to his sons and Hunter but didn’t even bother to know the names of other players.
Sanders also refused to answer any questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler for what he called a “series of sustained, personal attacks.”
Everyone expected Sanders and the Buffs to fall on their faces and was patiently waiting to celebrate their demise, yet the team picked to finish 11th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll didn’t cooperate with fulfilling that narrative.
Colorado won nine games for the first time since 2016 and finished the season ranked in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll, and the College Football Playoff rankings. Hunter became the first defensive player to win the Heisman Memorial Trophy since Charles Woodson did it in 1998, and Sheduer is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
And for a team and coach characterized as being “selfish,” it is worth noting that both Shedeur and Hunter will play in the team’s meaningless bowl game — Alamo Bowl — later this month.
Whether you like them or not, Dabo and Deion both proved all the doubters wrong this season, but questions remain for both.
Yes, Dabo got into the playoff but had to do so by winning the automatic berth. QB play is still in question and can he really sustain success moving forward with not recruiting out of the portal? This week Dabo added Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Tristan Smith and Purdue defensive end Will Heldt so that’s a start.
For Deion, it remains to be seen if he can be a successful head coach without his sons and Hunter suiting up for him. Can he still rally the troops when he doesn’t know their names or doesn’t have his children to serve as assistant coaches?
For now, Dabo and Deion can bask in their surprisingly successful seasons, proving the doubters wrong and take a few victory laps for doing it their distinctive way.
Raymond Partsch III is the co-host of “RP3 & Meche” which is broadcast weekdays (11-1) on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles — Southwest Louisiana’s Sports Station.
