Do we need a Dabo Swinney?

Ok before you crucify me, I would not want Dabo as a coach, but after watching the Clemson came last night and watching the on field post-game interview below, it got me thinking about a few things...

I live on the outskirts of Greenville SC about 30 minutes from Clemson and so I get this junk shoved down my throat all the time and I have to say these people have the biggest man crush on Swinney. The USC fans however typically refer to him as "the cheerleader" which we all know to be a pretty truthful moniker. However I am of the opinion that that is exactly why he has been so successful at Clemson and that it is this quality that VT is missing at present.

Hear me out.

1. Clemson fans, students, alumni, and donors love Dabo. He is the kind of coach that annoys most everyone that is not a Clemson fan, but they love him. If he can't do anything else he knows how to get people excited, get butts in seats, and keep the cash flowing in. I'm not saying that this is more important than coaching but it's really flipping important. The crazy part was that he was getting people excited when he first arrived, even before he started to see success.

2. The guy knows how to motivate and entice players. One of the reasons why college football is great is because of the unpredictability and inconsistencies of 18-22 year old kids. In the NFL, while there is more parody, you expect a player to not get rattled and to play consistent football. At the college level however you can see the #25 team in the nation spank the #3 team in the nation, and while it's exciting it's not exactly an unheard of event.

Dabo knows how to motivate kids and get them excited. He knows knows what to say to keep their emotions in check and how to keep them consistently playing to their potential. It may be annoying to the rest of us but those kids love him and he makes them want to play their heart out for him. While I wont belabor the point with an obvious explanation this also has a profound impact on recruiting.

Now why does this matter for us? Well it matters because these are things that we seem to be doing very very poorly right now. While poor performance is always going to damper excitement I see no efforts to keep the fanbase engrossed. Most of us here will obviously stick with the program through thick and thin but our demographic doesn't represent the majority of any CFB fanbase. Unfortunately most people need intentional motivating. They need to be made excited, and the past few years I have seem very little effort from the coaching staff to make that happen.

Also while I'm not just blaming the HBC, our players just seem so apathetic right now. It has been mentioned several times but Frank just seems tired. Of course he has made some suspect comments (ie. exhibition games) but even then he seems to have slowed a good bit. I don't fault him for this as it is a natural outcome of old age but he has to recognize it and its effects. Right now Frank just doesn't look like he's motivating anyone whether it be players, recruits, fans, alumni, students, donors, or anyone else.

Clemson it seems has put together an interesting formula that is working for them. They are a team with a coach who has average coaching ability at best, but a great motivator. They have then surrounded him with a top notch staff who has the ability to develop players and call a great football game. Notice their coordinators are going off to take head coaching jobs while ours (or at least the OC spot) are either getting fired or demoted.

In conclusion I don't want a Dabo Swinney, but I do want a motivator. None of this is to downplay coaching ability, which is obviously of primary importance, but "the cheerleader" has certainly proven that his "skills" can make one heck of a difference.

Thoughts?