Swinney: Love for Clemson why I say no to others
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
CLEMSON, S.C. — Dabo Swinney has plenty left to do at Clemson and has no plans to go anywhere anytime soon.
During a wide-ranging interview that will air on “The Huddle” pregame show on the ACC Network on Saturday (11 a.m. ET), Swinney acknowledged he has had “lots” of opportunities to leave the Tigers but opted to stay because he doesn’t “think there’s ever been a better time to lead Clemson than right now.”
But he declined to share whether one of those opportunities was at his alma mater, Alabama, where he began his career as a walk-on in 1989. Swinney was long thought to be a top choice to replace Nick Saban, given his ties to the school and its championship pedigree. After Saban announced his retirement in January, Swinney said he had a conversation with him early the next day.
“That’s a conversation that stays between us,” Swinney said. “I’m here because this is where I want to be. I’m glad that’s over, because for a long time, people say these things. I’m happy for Alabama. I’m happy for Coach Saban, too.”
Entering his 17th season as Clemson head coach, Swinney is one of three active head coaches to win a national championship, along with Georgia’s Kirby Smart and North Carolina’s Mack Brown. Swinney and Smart face off Saturday in their season opener in a huge showdown for both teams.
For Clemson, the stakes are perhaps higher, considering it hasn’t made the College Football Playoff the last three years after a run of six straight appearances from 2015 to 2020. After a 4-4 start to last season, Swinney ripped into a caller on his radio show after he was asked to defend the team’s performance given his status as one of the highest-paid coaches in the country.
As part of his response to “Tyler in Spartanburg,” Swinney said, “I work for the board of trustees, the president and the AD, and if they’re tired of me leading this program, all they got to do is let me know. I’ll go somewhere else where there is an appreciation.”
Asked whether he had ever considered stepping down, Swinney said he hadn’t.
“I’ve had lots of opportunities to leave Clemson, both for the NFL and college. Lots of opportunities, and you don’t read about (that) because that’s not how I operate,” Swinney said. “I’ve got some of the best kids in America that have come to Clemson to play for me. That means a lot. A lot of people, they don’t understand Clemson. Most of them have never been here, and they certainly don’t know me. They may think they know me, but they don’t know me. It’s a really, really special place, a place I really love. We can win at the highest level.
“It’d be hard for me to leave here. Who knows what God’s plan is for me down the road. My focus is just being great right where I am and leading at a time where we need leadership more than ever.”
“A lot of people, they don’t understand Clemson. Most of them have never been here, and they certainly don’t know me. They may think they know me, but they don’t know me. It’s a really, really special place, a place I really love. We can win at the highest level.”
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney
Clemson closed last season on a five-game winning streak to go 9-4, spurred by a 31-23 victory over Notre Dame. After the win, Swinney said, “If Clemson’s a stock, you better buy all you freaking can buy right now.”
“I think you saw the heart of our team,” Swinney said. “You saw the foundation of our program. I think the biggest thing is how they fought last year and the type of finish that they had. That’s fueled a lot of enthusiasm into this offseason with these guys. We have a very talented roster.
“Those are reasons to be optimistic. Thirteen years in a row we’ve been in the Top 25. Only us and Alabama. So history says we’re pretty good stock. Now we’ve had some years where we’ve been great, and I think these past couple years we’ve been good. But we want to be great.”
Massive changes already have come to college football, between the transfer portal and NIL, with more to come. Swinney has received criticism for not using the portal more, signing no players last offseason.
But he says he has nothing against the portal, referencing a report by Rivals that listed Clemson’s roster as the fifth-most talented in the country and second in player retention.
“My philosophy is what’s best for Clemson,” Swinney said. “I’m not worried about what’s best for other people. If we have the fifth-most talented roster in college football, we don’t have a lot of gaps, right? When you have the retention that we have, somebody has to leave. We believe in our guys.
“I’ve said this many times: If I left Clemson today and took another job, half the team would leave. I’d be the greatest portal recruiter ever because you have to do what you have to do.”
Swinney has watched college coaches either retire or move on to the NFL over the last few seasons because of the seismic shifts to the sport. A looming revenue-sharing settlement will only add to those changes, but Swinney said thinking about the challenges “jacks me up.”
“We need leadership,” Swinney said. “We need some adults that really care about these kids and will tell them the truth, regardless of what the outcome may be. There’s never been a more challenging time as a college football coach. But that jacks me up. I love the opportunity to lead and create a path and manage all the moving parts.”
It seems such a short time ago that all 16 teams began the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs with a clean slate. On Tuesday night, two teams could have their postseason runs ended.
Can both teams stave off elimination to get another home game out of the 2025 postseason?
Meanwhile in the Western Conference, both series involving Pacific Division teams are tied 2-2 heading back to the higher seed’s domain. Which teams will take pivotal Games 5 in Vegas Golden Knights–Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings–Edmonton Oilers?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down in Monday’s games, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 5 (TOR leads 3-1) | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN
Games 2-4 marked the 11th time in the past 20 years that teams have gone to overtime three straight times in a playoff series.
Jake Sanderson‘s game-winning overtime goal was the first of his career, and he became the ninth defenseman age 22 or younger with an OT goal in the playoffs (and the first for the Senators).
Veteran David Perron scored his first playoff goal with the Senators, the fourth team with which he has scored a postseason goal (Blues, Golden Knights, Ducks).
Matthew Knies scored his sixth career playoff goal, which is tied for the fourth most by a Maple Leafs player age 22 or younger since 1976-77, behind Auston Matthews (12), Wendel Clark (11) and Russ Courtnall (8).
Toronto defensemen have scored five goals this postseason, the most by any team, a surprising outcome given that the Leafs had the fewest goals by defensemen in the regular season (21).
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 5 (CAR leads 3-1) | 7:30 p.m. ET | TBS
The Devils have outscored the Hurricanes at 5-on-5 in the series (7-5), but trail on their own power plays (0-1), the Canes’ power plays (0-4) and when the net is empty (0-2).
Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen was knocked out of Game 4 following a collision with Devils forward Timo Meier. Meier has not scored on Andersen during this series, but scored on his first shot on goal against backup goalie Pyotr Kochetkov.
Andersen’s status is up in the air for Game 5, but he is the current leader among playoff goaltenders in goals-against average (1.59) this postseason, and is second among qualified goalies in save percentage (.936).
Andrei Svechnikov scored his second career playoff hat trick in Game 4. He has two for his career and is the only player in Hurricanes/Whalers franchise history to score a playoff hat trick.
Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 5 (series tied 2-2) | 9:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
Game 4 broke one streak and continued another. Ivan Barbashev‘s OT winner snapped a three-game losing streak for Vegas in playoff OT games, while the loss for Minnesota makes it five straight defeats in home playoff games that go to the extra session.
Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson made 42 saves in the loss, his second career playoff game with 40 or more. He is the only goaltender in franchise history with multiple 40-save games in the playoffs.
Kirill Kaprizov registered an assist in the Game 4 loss, giving him eight points in four games this postseason, one behind the leaders.
Vegas forward Tomas Hertl is on a heater. His goal in Game 4 is his third this postseason, and he has eight goals in his past nine games going back to March 22.
The Wild have been mostly effective at keeping Jack Eichel off the score sheet. He had one assist in Game 4, his first point of the series after a team-leading 94 points in the regular season.
Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings
Game 5 (series tied 2-2) | 10 p.m. ET | TBS
With his two-goal outing in Game 4, Evan Bouchard became the fourth defenseman in Stanley Cup playoff history to have back-to-back multigoal games, joining Rob Blake (2002), Al Iafrate (1993) and Denis Potvin (1981).
Leon Draisaitl — who scored the OT game winner in Game 4 — now has eight four-point games in his playoff career. That’s the fourth most in Oilers history, behind Wayne Gretzky (20), Mark Messier (10) and Jari Kurri (10).
Tied with Draisaitl for the playoff scoring lead is Kings winger Adrian Kempe, who is also tied for the goals lead with four. Kempe had 19 total points in 22 previous playoff games, all with the Kings.
Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper has been busy, facing 134 shots, which is the second most among postseason goaltenders (Gustavsson is first with 136). Kuemper’s current .881 save percentage is the second worst of his playoff career, narrowly ahead of the .879 he generated while backstopping the Wild for two games in the 2013 playoffs.
Arda’s three stars from Monday night
Johnston scored his first goal of the 2025 postseason nine seconds in, which is tied for the fifth fastest goal to start a game in Stanley Cup playoff history. He had himself a night, with two goals and an assist in the Stars’ win.
Rantanen scored his first postseason goal with the Stars against his old team. Rantanen became the seventh different player in NHL history to score a playoff goal against a team with which he previously tallied 100-plus postseason points. The others: Jaromir Jagr (2012 and 2008 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins), Brett Hull (2002, 2001, and 1999 vs. St. Louis Blues), Wayne Gretzky (1992, 1990, 1989 vs. Edmonton Oilers), Jari Kurri (1992 vs. Oilers), Paul Coffey (1992 vs. Oilers) and Bernie Geoffrion (1967 vs. Montreal Canadiens).
His postgame quotes keep getting better and better, to the point where he deserves a star for saying, “I’m sick of talking about hits” — then asking the media for their thoughts. Love it.
Monday’s scores
Florida Panthers 4, Tampa Bay Lightning 2
FLA leads 3-1 | Game 5 Wednesday
After an exciting, but scoreless, first period, the game heated up even more in the second. Anton Lundell opened the scoring for the Panthers, and Aaron Ekblad delivered a vicious hit to Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel; the call was not penalized on the ice, and Hagel would have to leave the game. Thereafter, the Lightning scored two goals within 11 seconds from Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak to take the lead well into the third period. But then in another span of 11 seconds, the Panthers pulled off the same feat, with goals by Ekblad and Seth Jones, sending the building into a frenzy. Carter Verhaeghe added an empty-netter for insurance. Full recap.
1:21
Panthers match Lightning with 2 goals in 11 seconds to take lead
Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones score within 11 seconds of each other as the Panthers grab a late lead in the third period.
Dallas Stars 6, Colorado Avalanche 2
DAL leads 3-2 | Game 6 Thursday
As wild as the opening game was Monday night, this one looked to be going down the same road early. Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston scored nine seconds into the game, which is the fastest goal ever to start a playoff game in Stars franchise history. Fellow young Star Thomas Harley joined him on the scoresheet with 45 seconds left in the first. From there on, Dallas kept Colorado at arm’s length, with a second-period goal from Mikko Rantanen, another from Johnston and one from Mason Marchment, followed by an empty-netter from Roope Hintz to put an exclamation point on the proceedings. Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon scored in the second period, but that was not nearly enough on this night. Full recap.
0:34
Stars score in first 9 seconds of the game
Wyatt Johnston wastes no time as he finds the net within nine seconds of play for a Stars goal against the Avalanche.
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Greg Wyshynski
Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad will have a hearing Tuesday with the NHL Department of Player Safety for elbowing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in the head in Game 4 of their series Monday night.
Hagel won’t play in Wednesday’s Game 5.
“He’s not playing tomorrow. And you know why,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper on Tuesday.
Ekblad’s hearing will be held remotely.
With less than nine minutes left in the second period of Florida’s 4-2 victory, Hagel played the puck out of the Tampa Bay zone near the boards. Ekblad skated in on him and delivered a hit with his right forearm that made contact with Hagel’s head, shoving Hagel down in the process. The back of Hagel’s head bounced off the ice. He was pulled from the game because of concussion concerns and didn’t return to the bench.
Ekblad wasn’t penalized for the hit and remained in the game. He would play a critical role in the Panthers’ late-game rally to take a 3-1 series lead, tying the game with 3:47 left in regulation before Florida defenseman Seth Jones scored the winner 11 seconds later.
Hagel returned to the Lightning lineup in Game 4 after serving a one-game suspension for interference on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2. The NHL ruled that Barkov wasn’t eligible to be hit and that Hagel made head contact with him, which forced Barkov out of the game. Barkov returned to the Florida lineup for Game 3, which the Lightning won in Hagel’s absence.
“It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the game before asking media members whether they had anything to say about Ekblad’s check, with no takers. “All right, let’s move on,” he said.
Ekblad missed the first two games of the playoffs after he was suspended 20 games without pay in March for violating the NHL and NHL Players’ Association’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
The Department of Player Safety did make a ruling on Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola, who received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for boarding Tampa Bay’s Zemgus Girgensons in Game 4. Mikkola was fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the NHL CBA, but escaped suspension.
Cooper said the physicality of “The Battle of Florida” shouldn’t come as a surprise
“Players are missing games because of it, whether it’s physically or by the league. So it’s going to be talked about. But if anybody’s followed Tampa and Florida over the last five or six years, this is kind of how these series are. This one is a little different because of the major things that have happened, but these are hard-fought series,” he said.
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