From Dabo’s Tree to the Title Game: Tony Elliott Leads Virginia to Charlotte with Clemson Roots Intact
Clemson won’t be in Charlotte this weekend, and that’s a rare sentence to write in early December. But while the Tigers are staying home, their presence will still be felt at the ACC Championship Game - through one of their own.
Tony Elliott, a Clemson alum and longtime assistant under Dabo Swinney, has Virginia headed to the title game. And even though his Cavaliers are the ones preparing to face Duke, Elliott’s path to Charlotte is paved with lessons learned in orange and white.
“I can't put into words how much I've learned, how much I'm still using today,” Elliott said of Swinney’s influence. “When we get done, I'm gonna call him and ask if he has any tips as a head coach about this game.”
If there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about winning an ACC Championship, it’s Swinney. He’s got 11 of those trophies, and Elliott was on staff for seven of them - six as Clemson’s offensive coordinator. Now, three years into his own head coaching journey, Elliott is bringing Virginia to the big stage.
This season has seen a bit of a role reversal. Clemson, the preseason favorite, stumbled to a 7-5 finish. Virginia, meanwhile, leaned on a transfer-heavy roster and a culture-first mentality to go 10-2 and earn a trip to Charlotte.
Elliott’s approach? Stay true to the values that built Clemson’s dynasty - structure, discipline, and fit over flash.
“When I was at Clemson, I wouldn't recruit certain guys because I said it's probably not gonna be a fit in the organization,” Elliott said. “I’ve stuck to that.”
That philosophy shaped his roster. At quarterback, he turned to Chandler Morris, a transfer from North Texas and TCU.
Morris doesn’t overwhelm with size - he’s listed at 6-foot, 192 pounds - but he’s savvy, tough, and happens to be the son of former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris. The connection runs deep.
Elliott also brought in a familiar face in tight end Sage Ennis, another Clemson product. Ennis has made his mark this season, not just as a blocker but with five touchdown grabs to his name.
But the real foundation of Virginia’s success, according to Elliott, has been in the trenches. And that’s no coincidence.
He watched Clemson’s rise from the inside and knew exactly what made those Tigers teams click. Sure, Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence were generational quarterbacks.
But Elliott saw the unsung heroes up close - the linemen who protected them and the defensive fronts that wreaked havoc.
“It’s the trenches that give you a shot, especially late in the season, when you're talking about the championship phase,” Elliott said. “We wanted to start there.”
It’s a strategy that’s paid off. Virginia’s turnaround has been one of the most compelling stories in college football this year.
Just last season, the Cavaliers went 3-7. Elliott’s first year in 2022 was cut short by tragedy - a shooting on campus that took the lives of multiple Virginia players.
It was a heartbreaking start to his tenure, but Elliott never wavered in his belief that the program could rise.
That belief became a mission. He coined a motto for the team’s 2025 campaign: “TLC to CLT.”
Charlotte was the destination. The formula?
Team, leadership, commitment.
“You're gonna get that, right? That's who we are as coaches,” Elliott said.
“But really what it's gonna come down to is: can everybody in this room become a team? Will our leaders step up and lead?
And will everybody be fully committed to the goals we set?”
The answer was yes on all counts. Virginia’s 10-2 record is proof.
And Elliott isn’t the only branch of the Swinney coaching tree thriving this fall. Brent Venables, Clemson’s former defensive coordinator, led Oklahoma to a statement win over LSU just days ago. The two former assistants now share matching 10-2 records - and a deep appreciation for the tough love that shaped them.
“I'm a better football coach because of Brent Venables,” Elliott said. “Man, I lost a lot of hair, took a lot of bloody noses, from practice every single day.”
Meanwhile, Swinney has been open about his own frustrations with Clemson’s season. But even in a year where the Tigers fell short of their usual standard, he found a silver lining in Elliott’s success.
“Maybe Tony can get there and we can still share in it a little bit,” Swinney said - and that was before Virginia locked up its spot with a 27-7 win over Virginia Tech.
Elliott was thinking of his old coach, too. He’d been pulling for Clemson to beat South Carolina, and after both teams won, there was a sense of shared satisfaction - even if they’re on different sidelines now.
As Virginia prepares for its biggest game in years, Elliott is leaning on all the experience he gained during those trips to Charlotte with Clemson. He’s got notes, memories, and a blueprint. But he knows there’s still more to learn.
“I took a lot of notes as a coordinator, as an assistant coach, in terms of all the things that I saw and heard throughout the course of each season, and then each trip to Charlotte that I'm leaning on,” Elliott said. “But I will need a few more tips - just in terms of actually being a head coach in this game.”
He’ll make that call to Swinney. And then, he’ll lead his team onto the field - not as a Clemson assistant, but as the head coach of a Virginia program that’s followed his lead all the way to the ACC title game.