re: Dabo: “We just signed a whole class of guys transferring from high school”

Terry Don deserves credit for Dabo.

When Phillips promoted Dabo to interim, he encouraged him to treat the job as if it were his for the long haul and that he would give him a legitimate shot at it. Phillips was willing to hire him originally (at about 40 years old with nothing but position coach experience for mostly mediocre teams) and then stick with him through some early struggles.

Phillips was impressed with Dabo’s energy, charisma, and recruiting prowess. Obviously he was right that Dabo had the qualities of a great HC.

Unless the bottom falls out, Dabo will be at Clemson as long as he wants. He’s done too much to elevate the program. I do, however, believe NIL and the TP have changed the ecosystem enough that he is no longer capable of a run comparable to 2015-2020 unless he adapts.

He may be right that “most” portal players aren’t Clemson caliber - but that still leaves “some,” right? At least to fill depth? He needs to get those guys. And he needs to win some of the “wars” (as he called it) for the star transfers too.

He also needs to accept that the idealized student-athlete who prioritizes education and personal growth through the college experience is essentially dead due to the obscene emphasis on money and winning created by fans, TV networks, administrators, the NFL, and coaches. And considering his ridiculous $100,000,000 contract to coach “amateur football,” he is to blame for it too. You don’t get paid money like that for life coaching and graduating 85 kids. Thousands of educators making less than $100,000 can do that with an army of tutors and top notch facilities at their disposal. Hell, most college kids (the kind who actually should be at a college instead of just football players mostly there to play football) can figure it all out with minimal help from advisors, etc.

If Dabo’s going to sign the big contracts (50-100+ times what a typical college educator makes), he needs to prioritize winning to the fullest extent of the rules - whether he likes it or not - because that’s what he is paid all that money to do.