FSU football: Dabo Swinney singing different tune about FSU

FSU football fans have a memory like an elephant and have been waiting for this moment since 2020 when Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made the comments below.

The moment he tried to dismiss FSU because he was on top of the mountain and probably didn’t think FSU would climb it so quickly.

He insinuated FSU was scared to play Clemson and used the pandemic to get out of playing the game because he did something dumb.

Well, here we are Dabo. In a few short years, you’ve gone from dismissive to complimentary because of the work Mike Norvell has put in at FSU. In the last two years, Mike Norvell has taken a less talented team and given you all you can handle. It doesn’t matter if the game was in Tallahassee or Death Valley.

It’s been a dogfight, and you know this year will not be the same as the last two. It’s a game where the talent is at least equal, or at the very least, FSU with the more favorable matchups. I spoke about how Mike Norvell was the better coach than Brian Kelly in head-to-head matchups and how the results would bare that out once the talent gap was gone.

We saw the results of that in the season opener. I feel the same way about Clemson. However, I must commend Dabo Swinney for at least acknowledging what Mike Norvell has done at FSU. The clip below is one of the greatest compliments a coach can give to another.

How a team plays is a reflection of its coach. That wasn’t the case last week against Boston College, but there were many contributing factors to how that game bore out. I think you’ll see that Mike Norvell team playing with an edge Saturday afternoon in Death Valley, and I think Dabo Swinney knows it to.

College football is a sport where you can decline as quickly as you descend. It seems like Dabo Swinney is hanging on the ledge, and this is Mike Norvell’s opportunity to pry his hands away. We’ll get to see if the power balance in the ACC officially goes back to FSU football Saturday afternoon.