Do we try to make a move for him?

The major concerns:
1) Will a new environment change his mind on NIL/Transfer Portal? He's proven that you can't compete using his old philosophy of 4/5-year development alone.
2) For once, it looks like we have a solid OC/DC combo. If he comes in, he'll probably want to bring his own guys.

He's a better coach than Dave, but we could probably do better. I'm not sure what his issue is at Clemson, but he lands pretty good recruiting classes and still loses to a lot of teams where you kind of expect him to have the upper hand talent wise

Dabo would be a great choice for Baylor. Clearly our current HC is still content to have moral victories and making other coaches look good.

Yeah it seems like saying all of the right things while not winning games is Baylor's biggest metric for HCs

Karab said:

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Do we try to make a move for him?

The major concerns:
1) Will a new environment change his mind on NIL/Transfer Portal? He's proven that you can't compete using his old philosophy of 4/5-year development alone.
2) For once, it looks like we have a solid OC/DC combo. If he comes in, he'll probably want to bring his own guys.

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Why? The guy doesnt know how to win the modern game of NIL. He also was never a coordinator at any level.

Dabo was allegedly a cheat before NIL and the portal and relied far too heavily on his more talented assistants to carry him. He has refused to embrace the modern realities of CFB, and the game has now passed him by. Honestly, his teams are so inept that he actually makes Aranda look competent.

Karab said:

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Do we try to make a move for him?

The major concerns:
1) Will a new environment change his mind on NIL/Transfer Portal? He's proven that you can't compete using his old philosophy of 4/5-year development alone.
2) For once, it looks like we have a solid OC/DC combo. If he comes in, he'll probably want to bring his own guys.

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You answered your own question.

If this season still goes the way most of us predicted it was going to go (granted we looked a lot better last Saturday than expected but bottom line we're still 0-1) and the $$ can be ponied up for an available Dabo Swinney…….I say go for it. The fact remains the dude has won 2 Nattys and would prolly be the best cultural fit @ the HC position for BU since Grant Teaff. Plus it would be great to have a proven HC with some fire and enthusiasm about him instead of a HC that looks like he's about to nod off at any second. I think Dabo would really be an instant shot in the arm for the program if there's a way to make it happen.

CaliBear00 said:

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Dabo was allegedly a cheat before NIL and the portal and relied far too heavily on his more talented assistants to carry him. He has refused to embrace the modern realities of CFB, and the game has now passed him by. Honestly, his teams are so inept that he actually makes Aranda look competent.

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Yeah, the risk is he's Les Miles 2.0. Or Jimbo Fisher 3.0.

He would have to change and be open to change. The question is whether he's interested in that. Sometimes a change in scenery is all that's needed.

But I agree with several of you--as enticing as it is, I think the game has passed lots of pre-NIL coaches by. And while he would still be better than Aranda, it's probably worth looking at younger blood who have the flexibility to win in the new landscape

Hell no. Some guys are built for this era of college football and some aren't. Dabo Swinney is pretty obviously in that second group.

Dabo will have substantial places to land. He or his agent wouldn't return our contact.

Dumbest post ever. In no way shape or form does anything Dabo does make Dave Aranda look competent. Dabos floor is always going to be better than Dave's ceiling. I'll bet you any amount of $$ you want that Dabo finishes with a better record then dip**** Dave

We should keep Dave! He's absolutely built for this era.. maybe if we give dip**** Dave another decade he can consistently match Dabos down years

IowaBear said:

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Dumbest post ever. In no way shape or form does anything Dabo does make Dave Aranda look competent. Dabos floor is always going to be better than Dave's ceiling. I'll bet you any amount of $$ you want that Dabo finishes with a better record then dip**** Dave

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Yeah, I didn't agree with that either. There's a certain level of irony that's being lost in this comparison of Dave and Dabo with accusing Dabo Swinney of having to rely on more competent coordinators to have success……


Bama is on a different level talent-wise than all but like four or five teams. I suspect that their backups would soundly beat the current Baylor squad. Just is what it is

Karab said:

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Do we try to make a move for him?

The major concerns:
1) Will a new environment change his mind on NIL/Transfer Portal? He's proven that you can't compete using his old philosophy of 4/5-year development alone.
2) For once, it looks like we have a solid OC/DC combo. If he comes in, he'll probably want to bring his own guys.

---

Totally agree about Klan , but With respect, What makes you think Spav is good? His Run game stinks. His offense's w/l record is .500 since he arrived. He hasn't developed a QB besides Sawyer in over 2 years, then wouldn't sub in another QB when Saw was hurt all year, and has no confidence in any backup when DJ got hurt on the stupidest play a QB can make. Baylor scored Only 16 pts on Saturday. Frustrating.

There's a lot of stupid in this thread. We have posters saying he doesn't know how to win in this era. The guy was in the playoffs 2 years ago..
no fan with any sort of brain is taking Dave Aranda over Dabo despite his obvious dip last year.

Pre transfer portal era I'd take Dabo in a second but now I'd probably look elsewhere.

IowaBear said:

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There's a lot of stupid in this thread. We have posters saying he doesn't know how to win in this era. The guy was in the playoffs 2 years ago..
no fan with any sort of brain is taking Dave Aranda over Dabo despite his obvious dip last year.

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You're going to ride the Dabo train all the way off the cliff. His teams are getting worse by the year, and this one is likely his worst yet.

He'll win six to nine games a year because he recruits better talent than most of his ACC peers. But they're getting beat (and frequently embarrassed) every time they play a good team from the SEC. His days as a championship coach are way behind him.

Now we're comparing mike ****ing Gundy to a guy with multiple National titles. This isn't even worth arguing about. Dabo at this state would still be a SIGNIFICANT upgrade over the heaping pile of **** roaming the Baylor sidelines. Not sure why you're using the LSU loss to discredit him. Baylor just got beat by a bottom feeder SEC team and this board has creamed their pants because Baylor kept it close

Are some of you really saying we would pass on a coach with 2 National Championships (and 2 more trips to the Title Game), 7 Trips to the Playoffs, 9 ACC Titles, Most Wins in ACC History, and 2 Bear Bryant Awards? Just wow...

If he approached us should we have an opening, it means he knows his prime has past.

True Grit said:

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Are some of you really saying we would pass on a coach with 2 National Championships (and 2 more trips to the Title Game), 7 Trips to the Playoffs, 9 ACC Titles, Most Wins in ACC History, and 2 Bear Bryant Awards? Just wow...

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Until Dabo shows he is going to play the $$$game that's the current and future game of college football, the answer is "yes" we should pass. It's all changed and we've been howling about an intransigent Aranda for several years now.

drahthaar said:

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True Grit said:

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Are some of you really saying we would pass on a coach with 2 National Championships (and 2 more trips to the Title Game), 7 Trips to the Playoffs, 9 ACC Titles, Most Wins in ACC History, and 2 Bear Bryant Awards? Just wow...

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Until Dabo shows he is going to play the $$$game that's the current and future game of college football, the answer is "yes" we should pass. It's all changed and we've been howling about an intransigent Aranda for several years now.

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I find it interesting that some here think Dabo would realistically consider Baylor. With his pedigree, even at the stage of career, there would be schools that are actually committed to football for him to consider. I can't visualize him working with/for Linda & Dougie.

True Grit said:

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Are some of you really saying we would pass on a coach with 2 National Championships (and 2 more trips to the Title Game), 7 Trips to the Playoffs, 9 ACC Titles, Most Wins in ACC History, and 2 Bear Bryant Awards? Just wow...

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This exact same argument could have been used for hiring Les Miles at Kansas. We all saw what a disaster that was.

Guys who stop winning big at blue blood or blue blood adjacent programs almost never have success at programs with no history to speak of or natural recruiting advantages over their peers. And they're often absolute failures.

IowaBear said:

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Now we're comparing mike ****ing Gundy to a guy with multiple National titles. This isn't even worth arguing about. Dabo at this state would still be a SIGNIFICANT upgrade over the heaping pile of **** roaming the Baylor sidelines. Not sure why you're using the LSU loss to discredit him. Baylor just got beat by a bottom feeder SEC team and this board has creamed their pants because Baylor kept it close

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What Mike Gundy did at Oklahoma State was one of the most impressive coaching jobs in college football history. He took a dog**** program and made them a perennial contender for a 15-year stretch.

Unfortunately, the game eventually passed him by -- just as it is currently doing to Dabo. And when coaches lose their mojo, it's really hard to get it back.

Dabo is Mike Gundy with better high school recruiting. No way would I want to hire him. He does not use the transfer portal, runs the same offense he started running with Taj Boyd (apparently intervened with little Riley, hence Morris being back to run the old offense), doesn't like NIL, need more be said? Saban didn't like the modern game and retired, Chip Kelly went back to being a coordinator to not deal with it, Jeff Hafley took the first decent NFL job offer he got. Some coaches have adapted, changed, whatever. Dabo still acts like it's 2016. He has a well earned long leash for winning two national championships against Saban so if Clemson does move on it is for good reason.

Preseason #4 last year and went 7-6. Clemson's marquee win the past few seasons is SMU, a team our coach has beaten in that time frame.

Team 100% doom will hate this line but Dave Aranda has adjusted to the modern game better than Dabo. It took time but Dave embraced NIL and the portal. Dave also hired a DC to revamp the defense in an image different from his own. Dabo went back and hired old buddy Chad Morris who hasn't called plays successfully since you guessed it, his 2011-2014 stint at Clemson.

You want coaches on the incline, not the decline

“Everyone’s talking about my buyout. But we need to buy in to our lord and savior!” pic.twitter.com/5RrbPq8hqX

— Chad Fisher DNP (@ChadFisher) September 7, 2026

Dave Aranda adjusting to NIl means absolutely nothing… he doesn't win. Y'all knock on Dabo for going 7-6 his first true down year in like a decade. Yet Baylor went 5-7… Dave Aranda isn't in the same stratosphere as Dabo. Nor is Mike Gundy. And I'm sorry if this offends anyone. But anyone who says otherwise has zero football IQ.

IowaBear said:

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Dave Aranda adjusting to NIl means absolutely nothing… he doesn't win. Y'all knock on Dabo for going 7-6 his first true down year in like a decade. Yet Baylor went 5-7… Dave Aranda isn't in the same stratosphere as Dabo. Nor is Mike Gundy. And I'm sorry if this offends anyone. But anyone who says otherwise has zero football IQ.

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Literally no one but you (and now boykin) is comparing Dabo Swinney to Dave Aranda. Dave Aranda is irrelevant to the Dabo Swinney conversation.

One can both not want Dabo Swinney as Baylor's coach and be generally dissatisfied with Dave Aranda's tenure.

I have been critical of Dave plenty. I have been critical of Spav plenty as well. I am not team 100% sunshine. If I were calling shots I'd have written Dave a glowing recommendation to be an NFL DC last year. I don't call the shots though, just arm chair quarterback from time to time and look at some of the asinine takes on here.

Chad Morris was a terrible hire by Dabo. It be like if your preferred NFL team hired Adam Gase to be OC. Two things can be true. Dave can be on a flaming hot seat and better adapted to modern college football. Doesn't mean he's connected on his attempts but he's at least tried. Dabo hasn't even tried. The question isn't body of work. It's what can Dabo do today for Baylor if hired as the HC? The answer is likely not much. There'd be no Sawyer, Trigg, Lagway, Travion Barnes, Texas State pipeline, Aigbedion, etc. If it's a body of work question then I can't wait for UNC to fire Belichick so my Titans can hire him.

"His teams are so inept that he makes Dave look competent"
This was the orginal post I was responding to. So no, I didn't bring Dave into this conversation. If you actually read the thread you'd have known this. And I stand by that comment. Nothing Dabo does is going to make Dave look competent. Because Dave on his best day can't hold Davis jock on his worst day.
L