Clemson Makes Dabo Highest Paid Coach in the Nation (10 years, $93 million)

[GrayTide]

We can credit the assistants but...who hired them? That’s to his credit.

I agree with this, Bill. These hirings certainly changed the team's offensive and defensive philosophy and, credit Dabo having the vision to bring these two coaches on board. I also think that, like a lot of things in life, timing played a huge role. Miami had sunk to a bottom feeder, and while FSU won the 2013 NC, the program was rotting from the inside in Bowden's last several years and apparently Fisher's commitment to FSU was on "thin ice". At this point Syracuse and NC State present the only challenge to Clemson in the ACC. I am not taking anything away from Dabo's success, but the ACC is not the most powerful conference of the P5 outside the SEC.

 

[BamaNation]

Chad Morris and Brent Venables happened.

Great leaders surround themselves with other leaders who have complementary skills and then listen. Teams (companies/ troops / etc) who have an unchallengeable leader typically don’t have sustainable success. We all think about CNS being unchallengeable but it seems very much the case he acknowledges where he is “weak” and seeks correction and feedback constantly.

There is NO DOUBT Dabo is in this same mode, as well.

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[RTR91]

Great leaders surround themselves with other leaders who have complementary skills and then listen. Teams (companies/ troops / etc) who have an unchallengeable leader typically don’t have sustainable success. We all think about CNS being unchallengeable but it seems very much the case he acknowledges where he is “weak” and seeks correction and feedback constantly.

There is NO DOUBT Dabo is in this same mode, as well.

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That is all true, but my post was in response to what changed for the program. Those two guys were the changing point. Dabo as the HC made the hires that saved his job.


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[FairlyAmazing]

It was more than that. As a fan you should know that too...

That would be my opinion.

The season records were good.

The recruiting was really improving.

But Losing to USc doesn't sit well, no matter how good they were during that period.

 

[FairlyAmazing]

His records were:

2009 9-5
2010 6-7
2011 10-4
2012 11-2
2013 11-2

Lost to USc each of those seasons.

If it was more than that, I'm eager to hear it.

 

[dWarriors88]

My guess is Clemson knows deep down that if given the opportunity, Dabo would be on the first thing smoking to Tuscaloosa. I don't know if anyone listened to his acceptance speech for the Bear Bryant Award. But there's noway if you were a Clemson fan, that you could have listened to that and not started picking up on that reality.

I’m not a Clemson fan so I didn’t pick up on it, can you clarify??

 

[DrollTide]

With the collapse of Miami, FSU and Tech, Dabo has by far the easiest path to the final 4. Clemson's ACC championship matchup would rank as the fifth- or sixth-toughest opponent that we face on any given schedule.

As for winning, it helps that he's had a generational QB twice. Clemson was absolutely gifted Notre Dame in the semis - they were able to prepare for Alabama literally from the day they benched Kelly Bryant, almost the whole season.

Which is to say: Dabo is an excellent coach, good enough to hire great people, recruit, motivate and coach up really good players, and leverages his weak schedule to concentrate on the difficult games. Now they are established, and I just saw they are #1 in the 2020 recruiting rankings, they are going to be an ongoing final-4 presence.

I hope someone outbids Clemson, he would not do as well anywhere else. But a $90M contract is basically a lockdown.

 

[Mystical]

His records were:

2009 9-5
2010 6-7
2011 10-4
2012 11-2
2013 11-2

Lost to USc each of those seasons.

If it was more than that, I'm eager to hear it.

I agree with you after 2013 they started using the term Clemsoning when they lost to a good South Carolina team. Then when they lost to Ga Tech in 2014 the heads at ESPN took off with it. It was largely a Media creation. From 2011 on he had good seasons. If memory serves they thumped Ok in the bowl game in 2014. As someone who has never, even back then, made it no secret I liked Dabo I thought the term was unfair.

 

[GrayTide]

So much is made about recruiting stats, but as we always say you still got to develop the talent you bring in. Recruiting rankings Alabama vs Clemson 2014-2019 (Per Rivals). Seeing that both teams have won two NCs since 2014 does this place greater emphasis on coaching and less on recruiting rankings?

2014
Alabama #1 vs Clemson #13

2015
Alabama #2 vs Clemson #4

2016
Alabama #1 vs Clemson #6

2017
Alabama #1 vs Clemson #22

2018
Alabama #7 vs Clemson #8

2019
Alabama #2 vs Clemson #9

 

[81usaf92]

So much is made about recruiting stats, but as we always say you still got to develop the talent you bring in. Recruiting rankings Alabama vs Clemson 2014-2019 (Per Rivals). Seeing that both teams have won two NCs since 2014 does this place greater emphasis on coaching and less on recruiting rankings?

2014
Alabama #1 vs Clemson #13

2015
Alabama #2 vs Clemson #4

2016
Alabama #1 vs Clemson #6

2017
Alabama #1 vs Clemson #22

2018
Alabama #7 vs Clemson #8

2019
Alabama #2 vs Clemson #9

2020 Clemson recruiting is already on pace to be the best recruiting class ever in the history of college football by some projections

 

[FairlyAmazing]

I agree with you after 2013 they started using the term Clemsoning when they lost to a good South Carolina team. Then when they lost to Ga Tech in 2014 the heads at ESPN took off with it. It was largely a Media creation. From 2011 on he had good seasons. If memory serves they thumped Ok in the bowl game in 2014. As someone who has never, even back then, made it no secret I liked Dabo I thought the term was unfair.

Well, ESPN creates many things.

Another opinion I hold.

Tommy Bowden avoided getting fired by beating USc most years.

 

[BamaNation]

For comparison, here are all the 2018 salaries according to USAToday.com

Surprising observations:

• Top 82 coaches make $1mm+ in total pay
• 83-113 make between $500k - $1mm total pay
• Hawaii's coach (Nick Rolovich) has a max bonus of $1.2mm (He's probably not going to earn it but that's huge given he's the #114 salary and everyone around him is about $400K max or less.)
• Harbaugh's school buyout is only $17mm
• Jimbo's school buyout is $68mm (about double the max of everybody else's)
• Gary Patterson, David Shaw, Mark Richt, Pat Fitzgerald, Pat Narduzzi, Derek Mason, Clay Helton, Matt Luke, and Joe Moorehead have no school buyout as of 4/1/19.
• This data is not complete (TCU and Penn St are listed as having total assistant salaries of <$1mm total!)

 

[CrimsonForce]

So much is made about recruiting stats, but as we always say you still got to develop the talent you bring in. Recruiting rankings Alabama vs Clemson 2014-2019 (Per Rivals). Seeing that both teams have won two NCs since 2014 does this place greater emphasis on coaching and less on recruiting rankings?

2014
Alabama #1 vs Clemson #13

2015
Alabama #2 vs Clemson #4

2016
Alabama #1 vs Clemson #6

2017
Alabama #1 vs Clemson #22

2018
Alabama #7 vs Clemson #8

2019
Alabama #2 vs Clemson #9

I've said we had more talent every time we played them and this shows it. We split the first 2 because they had a great talent advantage at the most important position: QB. Watson was so far ahead of Coker and Hurts that it equalized our talent advantage and both games were toss ups. Next game with equal QBs (Hurts and Kelly Bryant) we dominated the game. That's why the most recent game was such a surprise - we both had elite QBs but Tua was more experienced. The game turned on a handful of plays that all went their way. We were leading in total yardage until the final drive. Not an excuse - just pointing out we weren't dominated in this game like the scoreboard indicated. Typically, a game with a final score like we saw will have one team double up the other on yards. Not the case at all. Looking forward to the rematch if we get it..

 

[Ole Man Dan]

All things being relative, he’s still underpaid.

When you are a member of a tiny select group of Super Coaches, the sky is the limit salary wise.

This year I hope the Talking Heads really build up Clemson and Dabo.
I hope our guys respond well to all the Clemson praise.
I want our Defense to play mean, and I want our Offense to score every time we get the ball.
While I love Coach Saban, he does tend to call off the dogs when we win big.
I want Coach Saban to be Blood Thirsty.
Last year some of our Players and Coaches didn't play to finish.

 

[Redwood Forrest]

I like to see programs who think they have arrived pay salaries like they have arrived. That probably means they have arrived -- and intend to stay there. Good for Clemson, acting like a winner.

 

[Wakecrash]

Per an ESPN article "There is no buyout if he leaves for an NFL job."
Is no buyout if heading to nfl common? I read some comments about his recruiting philosophy, but wonder if it is more of a smoke screen because he does not embrace the grind of recruiting.

 

[bvandegraff]

Time for another team to deal with large quantities of Rat Poison (tm) for a change.

 

[GrayTide]

I am not sure that Tua is a better QB than Trevor Lawrence right now, but the upcoming season should decide between the two. If you assume we had superior talent over Clemson then the two losses would be on the coaching staff, in its continuity and preparation. I think that may likely be the case since the turnover has to take its toll at some point and I think those two losses to Clemson bear that out. As many have said on here, in both the 2016 and 2018 losses to Clemson, coaches were either gone or were focusing on their new jobs which I believe led to those losses, especially the lost in January of this year.

 

[B1GTide]

You also had some key players focused on the wrong things.

 

[RTR91]

You also had some key players focused on the wrong things.

Yep. Can’t say Clemson was the far superior team that night. Yes, they won fair and square. They weren’t 28 points better the entire season, though.


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