Clemson’s rough Saturday night has turned the conversation in a direction nobody in Tigertown wanted to revisit: what comes next if Dabo Swinney’s run really is nearing the end?
The Tigers were blasted by LSU, 51-20, in primetime on ABC, and the result only sharpened the questions around a program that has not looked like a true College Football Playoff threat in more than five years. Swinney didn’t hide from it afterward.
“We got our (butts) kicked,” Swinney said. “We gotta go win next week.
It’s an embarrassing performance, coaching and playing. We’re going to have to own that.
We can’t let that lead to another loss.”
CBS Sports went even further, writing that Swinney’s future is officially “in doubt.” The outlet said, “Swinney looks out-matched and unable to succeed in this current era of college football.
The glory days of Clemson football, which included two national championship wins over Alabama, feel like a lifetime ago. Worse, the path back to that level of success feels impossible now under Swinney,”
It also pointed to Swinney’s decision to hire Chad Morris as offensive coordinator, calling it “the ultimate double-down move from Dabo, the defiance that prevents him from evolving as other top coaches have to succeed in the NIL and transfer portal era.”
So if Clemson ever does move on, who would be in line to take over? The names that surfaced are all familiar in different ways, but each brings a different pitch.
Tony Elliott is the cleanest Clemson connection. The 46-year-old former Tigers offensive coordinator has turned Virginia into a program on the rise.
After winning just three games in both 2022 and 2023, the Cavaliers improved to five wins in 2024 before breaking through in 2025 with an 11-3 season and a Gator Bowl win. Virginia now looks like an ACC frontrunner and College Football Playoff contender in 2026, which could make Elliott the name to beat if he wants the job.
Rhett Lashlee would bring a different kind of momentum. The SMU coach has already guided the Mustangs to the College Football Playoff in 2024 after an 11-3 season, and he now has two 11-win campaigns on his résumé. At 38-16 as a head coach, Lashlee also brings ACC experience, which would matter in a search like this.
Then there’s Kalen DeBoer, a name that sits more in the realm of possibility than certainty. Swinney has long been linked to Alabama because of his ties to the Crimson Tide, but that door is not opening.
Instead, the idea here is that if DeBoer were to fall short at Alabama and get pushed out, Clemson could become a landing spot. Stewart Mandel floated a wild scenario: “Lane Kiffin leaves LSU after nine games for Alabama, which fires Kalen DeBoer after eight games.
DeBoer then goes to Clemson to take over for Dabo Swinney after he gets too distraught over tampering to continue,”
It’s a lot to process after one ugly loss, but that’s where Clemson’s season has pushed the conversation.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech Still Has One Big Quarterback Decision Before Old Dominion
Virginia Tech heads into Week 2 with one of the more practical questions of the early season still hanging over it: who settles in as the backup quarterback behind the starter. James Franklin said Bryce Baker has put himself in the conversation, and that battle for QB2 has become part of the buildup to Old Dominion, even as the Hokies try to keep their focus on the larger shape of the season. Franklin also spent time praising the defense and talking through the value of how future games are scheduled, a reminder that the first few weeks can shape more than just the win-loss column.
Old Dominion brings a little extra edge because of what happened a year ago, but Franklin made clear the Hokies are treating this matchup as its own test rather than a chance to relive last seasons loss. The result is a familiar early-season mix of urgency and evaluation: Virginia Tech wants to clean up the details, keep building confidence on defense and, at the same time, sort out a quarterback depth chart that could matter later even if it does not decide Saturday. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Techs Quarterback Battle Isnt Over Behind Ethan Grunkemeyer
Virginia Tech left its season-opening win over VMI with one part of the quarterback picture looking settled and another still very much in motion. Junior Ethan Grunkemeyer handled the job well enough in the opener, completing 17 of 20 passes for two touchdowns, and the Hokies got the kind of steady start they wanted from the top of the depth chart.
The more interesting question now sits behind him. Head coach discussed the quarterback situation after the game and made clear the backup role is still a competition among Bryce Baker, Kelden Ryan and Troy Huhn, with Baker getting into the opener but no definitive No. 2 yet named. For a team trying to build early-season rhythm, that kind of uncertainty matters, and it gives the next stretch of practice a little extra edge. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Gets A Charged Reunion With One Painful Opponent
Brent Prys return to Virginia Tech has already added an unusual layer to James Franklins first season in Blacksburg. Fired as the Hokies head coach in September 2025, Pry is back on the staff as defensive coordinator, and the schedule wasted little time in putting him in a spotlight game with extra meaning. Virginia Tech hosts Old Dominion on Sept. 12, 2026, with both teams off to 1-0 starts and the Hokies installed as the favorite.
The matchup carries an edge beyond the usual in-state intrigue because Old Dominion was the team whose victory helped trigger Prys dismissal. It is rare enough for a coach to return to the same program after getting let go, and even rarer for that reunion to come against the opponent most closely tied to the end of his first run. For Virginia Tech, it turns Saturday into more than an early-season test. It is also a charged reminder of how quickly the narrative around one program can turn. [Read more 🡒]