Dabo Swinney faces fierce backlash from Alabama students as Clemson HC's name emerges as potential heir of Nick Saban: “Anyone but Dabo!”

As one can expect, the sudden retirement of Alabama's Nick Saban left the CFB world in a state of shock. This has also led to rumors spreading left and right about various candidates who could go on to become Saban's heir in Tuscaloosa. The job of carrying forward Saban's legacy will be a tough one and fans will expect the right person to lead the program in the coming years.

Amidst all the names that have been floating around, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has also been suggested as a potential replacement for Nick Saban. But students of Alabama University have made their thoughts clear about their stance on the program looking at Swinney as a potential candidate.

In a video going viral on social media, several students can be seen gathering around Nick Saban's statue inside the campus. They then went on to briefly chant "Anyone but Dabo!", making it clear that they do not want Swinney to return to his alma mater as the next head coach of the program:

"Students chant 'anyone but Dabo!' in front of Bryant-Denny Stadium."

Before his coaching career, Dabo Swinney played as a WR for Alabama from 1990-1992. He then went on to become a graduate assistant for the program in 1993. He was then promoted to wide receivers coach and served until 2000 before joining Clemson as their head coach in 2003.

Swinney enjoyed quite the success during his early years with the Clemson Tigers. He led them to two national championships in 2016 and 2018, both by defeating the Crimson Tide. However, despite putting up winning seasons, the Tigers failed to qualify for the playoffs in the last three seasons.

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Dabo Swinney has an Alabama clause in his contract

Another interesting thing to note is that when Swinney signed a 10-year extension worth $115 million back in 2022, the contract had a specific clause about him leaving Clemson to coach the Crimson Tide.

The clause bumps up his buyout by 150% if he decides to leave to coach in Tuscaloosa rather than any other team in the college football scene. Clemson's AD Graham Neff later explained that he looks at the clause as Swinney's commitment to the program:

"How I look at that is Coach's commitment to Clemson. If you were to look at the market for buyouts, coach's buyout to Clemson even before any of the additives for Alabama specifically is the highest of his market, the top 10 markets.

"That commitment that he has to Clemson sets the market... that's how I see those buyout dollars, because there's a lot of them around the country and the market that aren't a whole lot if anything. So even those dollars there from Coach are emblematic of his commitment to Clemson"

It will be interesting to see who Alabama hires as the successor to Nick Saban's legacy in the coming days.