UVA Football: What happens if Clemson comes calling for Tony Elliott?

What happens if Clemson comes calling, and the guy on the other end of the line is UVA Football coach Tony Elliott?

It would be hard to see Elliott not at least take the call, and give it a lot of thought.

Don’t assume that call might not be coming soon, either.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, Clemson was in the preseason coaches Top 25, and the ACC media have the Tigers at #4, ahead of Virginia, which was left out of the Top 25, and was picked sixth in the ACC by the media.

Whatever. Clemson was preseason Top 5 and the ACC favorite this time last year, and finished 7-6, and Dabo Swinney is just 26-14 in his last three seasons – I say “just,” because Swinney’s run of 12 straight double-digit win seasons from 2011-2022 has folks down there not feeling quite as fat and happy when the season ends in something called the Pinstripe Bowl.

I’m not going out on a limb here when I suggest that another season like 2025 could end with Swinney, who has proven resistant to playing the transfer portal game – he only took on 11 to flesh out his roster for the 2026 season – taking the Tony Bennett route and becoming an emeritus.

If I’m running the show down at Clemson, my first call would be to Tony Elliott – I say that assuming that Elliott’s UVA team will have the 2026 that I foresee, with a loaded roster and favorable schedule.

Something will have gone dramatically wrong if Elliott’s 2026 team doesn’t win at least eight games, and I’ll be disappointed if it’s not nine.

Another big season from Elliott, who has mastered the transfer portal, would make the Clemson alum and former top Swinney assistant, a logical top candidate down there, if the job comes open, which, you know.

I’ve thought all along that Elliott’s move from Clemson to Virginia back in 2021 was about building credentials that could put him in line to be the successor at some point in the future.

The first three years out of the gate – in which Elliott’s teams went 3-9, 3-7 and 5-7 – obviously didn’t get him off to a good start in that respect.

The 11-win 2025, which saw Elliott get within a possession of a berth in the College Football Playoff, rocketed our guy to the top of whatever list may be in the process of being developed, just in case.