Ever since Clemson first reached the pinnacle of success in the College Football Playoff people around the sport have speculated about a potential jump by head coach Dabo Swinney to his alma mater at Alabama.

Earlier this week Nick Saban signed a contract extension that keeps him as the head coach of the Crimson Tide through the 2028-29 season.

Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich stressed the importance of keeping Swinney with the Tigers on Tuesday.

“I’ll tell you Dabo is a very young 51 and that’s great for Clemson,” Radakovich said on SportsTalk Radio in Columbia. “We want to make sure he is here and continues to be a part of our program for years, and years and years to come.”

When Frank Howard stepped down as head coach at Clemson following the 1969 season he said that fans had grown tired of him.

Radakovich knows the college football landscape has changed significantly in the last half century and he wants Swinney at the helm as long as possible.

“I would hope so and I think all the qualifiers you put out there are very important,” Radakovich said. “I think the world is a little different today, when coach Howard was here at Clemson the fans may have tired, you can roll out five or six examples of coaches that at a certain part in their career decided to go in different directions.”

Swinney’s current contract runs through the 2028 season but Radakovich knows his impact on the university is worth whatever it takes to keep him at Clemson. In his estimation, the key to keeping Swinney with the Tigers lies within the coach.

“Dabo is an incredible ambassador for the university and that says a lot about what athletics means in our world today,” Radakovich said. “He enjoys it and as long as he enjoys it he will want to stay here and be a part of Clemson athletics.”

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