For the first time ever, Dabo Swinney will face off with a head coach who was at one time a member of his coaching staff.
When No. 10 Clemson hosts Virginia on Saturday (noon/ACCN), former assistant Tony Elliott will be roaming the opposing sideline. Elliott played football at Clemson during the Tommy Bowden era, and after getting his feet wet with coaching stints at SC State and Furman, Swinney hired him as his running backs coach in 2011.
Three years later, Elliott was promoted to co-offensive coordinator and he would call the plays for both of Clemson’s national title teams in 2016 and 2018. Following the 2022 season, Elliott was hired as the head coach at Virginia, and after going 6-16 during his first two seasons at the helm, the Cavaliers off to a 4-2 start in 2024.
With Elliott set to return to Clemson for the first time as an opposing head coach, Swinney admitted that looking across the field and seeing a former protege will take some getting used to.
“That’s going to be a little strange for sure,” Swinney said during his weekly Zoom conference on Sunday. “Tony is just family to me. Not just somebody that I have worked with. Just that whole family, I have been around since 2003. We have had some great times doing life together.”