How much longer does Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney realistically have in Death Valley?

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If I were to ask you to describe Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney in one word, your response would likely hinge almost entirely on how far back your memory goes when it comes to watching college football.

If you’re fairly new to the sport, you would probably use words like "washed" or "cooked" or even "fired" given his performance relative to expectations since the turn of the decade.

Fans who have been around for a while longer and know why those expectations exist at Clemson would opt to use words like "legend" or "champion."

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Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney reacts on the sideline during the second half of the NCAA Aflac Kickoff Game against Georgia in Atlanta, on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (IMAGN)

However, if you’re an older college football fan and happen to remember the Tigers pre Dabo, you’d use words like "god" or "untouchable."

This is because you would be painfully aware of where Clemson was as a program in the years leading up to Swinney's arrival.

Sure, the Tigers have a national championship from the early 80s, but outside of that, no one was counting Clemson as a blue blood in the three decades before Dabo donned the tiger paw-crested polo.

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From 1990-2008, the Tigers finished a season ranked inside the AP top-10 just once, as coaches like Tommy West and Tommy Bowden produced middling