This is a review column.
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Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is trying his best to buck the trend.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day represents the desperate aristocracy of college football's new age schemers.
It will be interesting to see who faces more pressure to win heading into the 2024 season.
College football is undergoing a transformation this offseason. From expanded playoffs to conference expansion to roster management to the retirement announcement of the greatest coach in history, the entire sport is changing. Where there is chaos, there is also opportunity…and potential destruction.
Who will rise to the top among college football's traditional powerhouses? No one knows what will happen at this point, but it is clear that the risks are higher than ever.
In the third installment of my offseason series, I look at the gold standard of excellence in the Big Ten and ACC. Ohio State and Clemson both missed the College Football Playoff last season. Both teams are eager to win a conference championship in 2024 and establish themselves as former and future champions.
The burning question is: Who has a better seat, Day or Dabo, based on their situation, pedigree, and the different paths they have chosen for their team?
10 burning questions
question 1: Will Isaiah Bond regret leaving Alabama for Texas?
Question 2: What does Nick Saban really think about Alabama?
The need to win at Ohio State and Clemson represents an interesting case study in a volatile sport of change. Ohio State hasn't won a national championship since the 2014 season, with rival University of Michigan reigning as the champion. At Clemson, Swinney has not appeared in the College Football Playoff in four consecutive years.
Will either of these prominent coaches lose their jobs if they miss the expanded College Football Playoff? The four-team playoff is over. Next season, college football will debut a new 12-team playoff. My prediction is that it will change the sport even more fundamentally. how? I'm not sure, but it feels like Ohio State and Clemson are the vanguard of change.
Ohio State is spending a lot of money on big-money transfers after losing the final two games of the 2023 season. They lost to Michigan in the pseudo-Big Ten championship game, then lost to SEC upstart Missouri in a bowl game. The Buckeyes countered by raiding five-star quarterback Julian Sane from Alabama and safety Caleb Downs, the nation's 2023 Newcomer of the Year. Then, Ohio State acquired former Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins.
Ohio State watched the University of Michigan win the national championship last season despite accusations of cheating. The Buckeyes countered the Wolverines by bringing in some of the best players in college football. Compare that to Clemson. Despite losses to Duke, Florida State, North Carolina State, and the University of Miami, Swinney failed to bring in any outside players the following football season. He is instead building his team the traditional way through stability and freshmen.
Both schools share the same desire to win, but their expectations are completely different.
Is Swinney holding Clemson back by not using the transfer portal? Now that the Ohio State NIL Collective has access to the best players in college football, will Day be easily replaced?
If Ohio State misses next season's expanded 12-team playoffs for any reason, Day should be fired as the team's head coach. Clemson's Swinney, meanwhile, suddenly feels more like former Auburn manager Brian Harsin than former Alabama manager Nick Saban.
Coach Harsin made it clear from the beginning that he would not pay players. He didn't last long after that. He was a constant innovator of the game until Saban decided that a job at ESPN was better than managing the egos of college players comparing salaries.
Is Swinney a relic or a rebel? Not too long ago, it felt like the former Alabama receiver was on an unofficial lifetime deal with Clemson. He won national championships in his 2016 and his 2018, defeating two of Saban's best teams in the process. It all feels like 20 years ago considering the current rate of change in college football.
This fall, sports enter a whole new era.
Ohio State's new conference rival is Oregon State. Do you think it sounds strange? Clemson will play a home game against new conference opponent Stanford on September 28th. Talk about worlds colliding.
Ohio State fans couldn't be happier with the team's new roster composition. Siwini, who once famously said he would quit coaching before paying players, is seen as stubborn. Clemson lost four games in 2023. If the Tigers lose four games again, Swinney will have to reconsider his approach or consider joining Saban on ESPN College GameDay.
Day's Ohio State is the favorite to win because of the amount of money spent on the roster. The pressure is on Swinney at Clemson as he refuses to conform to the new reality of college football. Which coach has a longer shelf life? Probably the one who won't start the season in a potential showdown with Georgia.
Godspeed, Dabo.
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Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for Alabama Media Group and author of the most controversial sports book ever written, We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban's Ultimate Team I am the author of “
