Dabo Swinney knows better than most what Penn State interim HC Terry Smith has experienced over the last seven weeks.
In 2008, Clemson was 3-3, and that got Tommy Bowden fired.
Enter, Dabo.
Swinney, who was the team’s offensive coordinator, became the interim head coach.
After the season, Clemson took the interim tag off, and the rest is history.
Nine ACC championships and two national titles later, Swinney prepares for his first meeting with Penn State, which will be led by Smith for the last time.
Penn State fans who wanted Smith to be promoted cited Swinney’s success as a reason that taking the interim tag off could work.
Ultimately, Penn State decided to hire Matt Campbell, who made it a priority to keep Smith around.
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Although Smith’s coaching story won’t have the same ending as Swinney’s, what he’s accomplished at Penn State isn’t lost on Dabo.
WHAT DABO SAID
“First of all, I have great respect for anybody who gets put in an interim situation. I have been there, done that,” Swinney told media via Zoom Tuesday. “It is an incredibly difficult task. All of a sudden, you are thrust into a completely different role. You have to redefine roles and responsibilities. You wear a lot of different hats. It is not easy, especially at a place like Penn State where there is a lot of people who care and are paying attention to everything you do.”
“What you’ve seen at Penn State is you’ve seen the character of their program, the character of their players, because they’ve continued to battle. Honestly, there’s a couple other games they could have won. They’ve competed and they battled, and I think that’s a great reflection of who coach Smith is and the job that he’s done.”
Penn State and Clemson have had similar stories this season.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Penn State started the year No. 2, Clemson started No. 4, so most assumed that, if the teams were to meet, it would be in the College Football Playoff.
It didn’t quite happen that way.
Clemson’s Playoff dreams ended in late September, when a double-digit home loss to Syracuse dropped it to 1-3.
Penn State’s hopes made it to October, but not much longer.
Consecutive upset losses to UCLA and Northwestern dropped PSU to 3-3 and led to coach James Franklin being fired midway through his 12th season.
Penn State had to win its last three games just to become bowl eligible, which it did under Smith’s leadership.
“I just think (Smith) has done an amazing job and they have had injuries,” Swinney said. “Settling them down and finding a way to finish the season, just like we have. Disappointing start, high expectations. But football is hard, and it doesn’t always go your way. But most of the time, it gets worse when things go bad. But what you have seen at Penn State is the character of their program and the character of their players, because they have continued to battle.”
“I think that is a great reflection of who Coach Smith is and the job that he has done,” Swinney said. “I think it is a great opportunity for both teams to go compete and try and finish your season with a win.”
THE TIME OF HIS LIFE
Smith has been coaching for more than three decades, but his time as Penn State’s interim head coach has been the best of his tenure.
“This has been the greatest seven weeks of my coaching career,” Smith said via Zoom. “The opportunity to represent my alma mater and sit at the very top of it, to try to salvage a season that didn’t start off the way we wanted, it was a tremendous opportunity.”
Of course, the job isn’t done, and Smith would love to go out with a win.
“As ultimate competitors, the goal is always to win, and we all know based on going into the offseason, the momentum of a victory into your offseason helps your offseason workouts, your spring ball and how you approach next season,” Smith said. “We’re looking forward to trying to gain that momentum and continue the momentum of a three-game winning streak.”
