Deion Sanders and Dabo Swinney have something in common early in the 2025 season: their teams are both off to 1-2 starts.
On the same day that Swinney went on a near-hour-long tirade over the thought of restless fans and administration over Clemson not being the same dominant program they were five years ago, Coach Prime compared Colorado's situation to Clemson's.
"Dabo Swinney is one of my favorites," Sanders said. "I love him to life. I love the man he is, the coach he is. Just a great guy. A guy that I could look up to, you know, in this coaching realm. Looking back on some of the things that they've accomplished, and they've been sitting here before, you know, 1-2, and they have turned it all around. I think they [Clemson] ended up 10-2 that season. Why not us? Why can't we turn it around? Why can't we correct the wrongs with the rights and display consistency? Because we have the talent in-house. We just have to put it to use and do what we are capable of doing.
Coach Prime is correct in that Clemson has gotten off to slow starts before and turned it around. They've never stated 1-2 and finished 10-2, but they have had sluggish Septembers and ended up being pretty good.
In 2014, Clemson started 1-2 with losses at Georgia and Florida State. They finished the regular season 9-3.
In 2021, Clemson started 2-2 with losses to Georgia and at NC State. They finished the regular season 9-3.
Last year, Clemson got blown out in its season opener to Georgia, but rallied to finish 9-3 in the regular season. They knocked off SMU in the ACC Championship Game to make the College Football Playoff.
The biggest difference is the quality of opponents the Tigers lost to in those seasons, compared to who Colorado has lost to. Neither Georgia Tech nor Houston stacks up with those Georgia teams or that Florida State team in 2014.
Clemson is headed in the opposite direction of where Coach Prime wants to take Colorado
Perhaps the only person who can't see that it's over at Clemson is Dabo Swinney. Maybe you can add Coach Prime to that list based on his comments yesterday. Clemson will not be returning to its perch atop the college football mountain anytime soon. The game is zooming past Swinney, and he's not adapting quickly enough to keep up.
It's a downward trajectory, one that Coach Prime is looking to avoid in Boulder. Despite the 1-2 start this year, it's impossible to argue that Sanders hasn't gotten Colorado on the upswing. He took over a dormant program coming off a 1-11 season in 2022. He raised their national profile immediately, and then produced tangible results last season with nine wins.
Even if this season is a backslide - which it always seemed likely to be with what the Buffs had to replace - he's in no danger of losing his job, contrary to what some might believe.
Colorado and Clemson are programs headed in opposite directions. Hopefully, that's something Sanders can see.