Dabo Swinney addresses rumors of reuniting with Deshaun Watson on Texans
By John Buhler
A Dabo Swinney reunion with Deshaun Watson with the Houston Texans would be all the rage.
It’s only natural to connect Dabo Swinney to the Houston Texans because of Deshaun Watson.
With the Texans firing former head coach Bill O’Brien on Monday after an awful 0-4 start to their 2020 NFL season, Houston must begin its head-coaching search. Given that they have one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the league in Watson, it could be appealing for Swinney to leave the Clemson Tigers to go coach his former quarterback again. He’s just not thinking about it right now.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was asked about the Texans this a.m. and if he'd heard from Deshaun Watson. Said they had not talked, and as far as the job, "That is not even anything that I want to even have to even think about."
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) October 6, 2020
Dabo Swinney should focus on the season ahead, but keep his options open.
Even though Swinney has never shown any inclination that he wants to go to the NFL, there is no denying the juggernaut program he has built at Clemson in the last decade-plus. Clemson is at its apex as a program, certainly better than the previous apex under former head coach Danny Ford. Swinney could stay at Clemson forever, but he may want a new challenge.
If he were to make the leap to the NFL, Swinney would have a leg up on most head coaches in the league when it comes to drafting players. Clemson recruits at an elite level. For two years, Swinney would be able to crush the NFL Draft. However, O’Brien did a deplorable job as a general manager, as one of the worst teams in football doesn’t have its first-round pick in 2021.
The reasons to take the leap to Houston from Clemson include Watson, playing in a winnable AFC South division and having Cal McNair as his owner, a former college player at a blue-blood program like Swinney himself. Being able to build a staff and pair him with the right general manager could be a challenge, but it’s not like Swinney is being challenged in the ACC these days.
Clemson crushes its conference competition because it recruits at an SEC level and plays an ACC schedule. This will work indefinitely, so long as ACC blue-bloods like the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes stay down. Florida State is very much down in 2020, but Miami looks to be returning under second-year head coach Manny Diaz. Clemson hosts Miami on Saturday night.
Though Clemson should beat the ‘Canes, we may see Miami do its best to close the gap among the very best teams in the ACC. If Swinney really wanted to leave Clemson for the NFL, he could theoretically reunite with Watson in Houston or go to whatever bottom-feeding team ends up drafting his current quarterback Trevor Lawrence No. 1 overall this spring.
Simply put, Swinney is swimming in options. He can stay at Clemson forever, but if he were to leave in 2021, he could end up coaching Watson in Houston or Lawrence on a team yet to be determined. Clemson would probably promote defensive coordinator Brent Venables from within and may be able to sustain excellence for the time being. For now, Swinney is all-in at Clemson.
Swinney should not worry about the NFL, but his agent should field phone calls this fall.
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