Saban v. Swinney: In today‘s sporting America it may be the best thing going.
Baseball’s best player (Harper) is still unsigned;
NFL playoffs have more pretenders than a Platters reunion;
In its peak period, NHL is getting bumped for soccer gossip, and ..
The NBA has never been more passé with competition ebbing low.
But the praise is piling high for William Christopher “Dabo” Swinney, five days after he and his Clemson Tigers garnered their second CFP national championship in three seasons (2017 / 19), both titles coming with wins over the most highly regarded college football program in the land these past 15 years, arguably all-time, that being Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide.
And “there’s the rub,” as Hamlet might’ve said, the big question in all this Clemson euphoria: Who then exactly IS today’s top program?
While the gold standard in sport is measured in championship metallica, it is weighted by its karat-count in quality of competition. Put another way, “some Indians .. a tribe’s greatness is figured on how mighty its enemies be (D.Gue).”
Besting the top dog in Alabama, twice in their last three championship games, certainly qualifies as weighty competition. Add to that poundage, the fact that the Tide’s last victory in the this burgeoning rivalry was of the lesser semi-final variety (CFP-18). As we all know in the sporting world, it is the biggest stage (championship) that proves the toughest test then matters the most.
And those who follow college sport closely, know that the first and most important ingredient in the championship metallurgy process is successful recruitment. And therein lay the OTHER rub.
Before Clemson football can make a serious claim to supremecy, Dabo & Company must first create a public perception among high-school players, parents and principals that their school is #1. Two national titles in three years (3 total) are big steps in that direction.
But affecting perception goes deeper than displaying contemporary accolades.
The Tigers history is a long one (b.1896), and proud, but the Tide have one themselves (b.1892), claiming seventeen (17) national titles and a modern-era stature that is second to none, including that of Notre Dame’s (11), one which is fast losing its golden luster, having last won a national title in 88 (Holtz).
Another aspect of program perception is the image of its head coach, the master-mind behind all of the success. Players, even the great ones, will move on, the college variety especially quick today (2-3 yrs).
If there’s enough of success, what develops might be called a cult of personality, a money mood (not legal tender but valuation) that the coach will use to fuel the recruitment. Pete Carroll had it, as did John Wooden, Jimmy Johnson, Mike Krzyzewski, Pat Summitt, Knute Rockne, Bear Bryant, Eddie Robinson, Woody Hayes, Fielding Yost, Rod Dedeaux, Jerry York, Herb Brooks and Saban.
It’s a status that doesn’t necessarily remain, in its entirety, at the school where it began, but will leave, in some degree, with the coach if they happen to make an exit and as long as they keep winning (Saban: LSU > UA).
Swinney‘s cult is building fast.
So, what might he do to turn demigod, making top prospects tab Clemson as the coolest place to matriculate in the classroom and the gridiron? A third national title in the not too distant future is a necessity (many coaches have tallied, two), and if it forms a back-to-back dynasty (2019-20), so much the better.
Of no interest to Clemson folk but of great benefit to Swinney’s status would be moving on to a different school to take on the challenge of creating another championship program as did misters Saban and Urban Meyer (UF > OSU). But then it may be a bit early for such considerations.
Back to recruitment, it’s a little like the chicken-and-egg thing.
How do you consistently recruit the best until you are seen as the best, which you won’t be seen as until you recruit the best? All this made the more difficult when the current perceived best in Saban is still very much in the mix?
Yet, that’s exactly the kind of challenge a champion meets head on as they move to dethrone the current ruler of the roost, any difficulties be damned.
And if Dabo does one day rule the roost, you can be sure we’ll not mispronounce nor mis-spell his name ever again. One of the perks of being head rooster.
StevenKeys
MacroSport
Photo credit: chess-game, checkmate, wc.cca; D.Swinney, wc, 10.31.15, Lambeau-Leap80; N.Saban, wc, 10.13.07, Crassic; macroecono, wc, lambcasinoroyal, 2011
Posted: 1.12 @ 7:58pE, edit 1.13; Copyright © 2019
Ahead of the Curve 