SUNSET – Adding a new coach to a staff that has been together for multiple years, and won a National Championship, can be tricky for a head coach. You have to find the right person, one that can not only coach but fits in well with your players and staff.
Dabo Swinney appears to have a hit the proverbial home run with the hire of defensive line coach Todd Bates, who joined Swinney’s staff after the departures of Marion Hobby and Dan Brooks last January.
If you had any doubt that Bates fits in well with the Clemson culture, all you have to do is talk to him for more than three minutes or read some of his poetry or see him grabbing the microphone at the Ladies’ Clinic last Saturday and watch him lead the throng in “We Are the Champions” at the top of his lungs.