Dabo Swinney says he's not 'emotional' about losing recruit to Notre Dame football

Clemson might have gotten the best of the Notre Dame football team last year on the field, but it seems like the Irish have been getting payback ever since. First there was Beux Collins from the transfer portal, then there was the flip of 4-star quarterback Blake Hebert earlier this week.

The Fighting Irish might be laughing all the way to the bank, but Tigers’ head coach Dabo Swinney wants people to know he’s not going to shed tears over the recruiting loss. In fact, he knows it’s just part of doing business. You can take that for what it’s worth as a coach who understands the reality of his profession, or a coach who is covering what was a painful blow to his recruiting class.

Swinney couldn’t speak directly about the loss of Hebert to the Notre Dame football team, but he was asked about his reaction to decommitments. On its face, his response seems like a reasonable one. Though you’re unlikely to hear many coaches whine and moan about a loss of this kind.

Dabo Swinney addresses Notre Dame football stealing commit from Clemson

"Sometimes the guys we get because of guys we don't get are the best things that've ever happened to us,” Swinney said during his weekly press conference.

It’s a safe bet Irish coach Marcus Freeman would agree with that sentiment to some degree. After all, he went out and got Hebert after 4-star quarterback Deuce Knight decommitted from Notre Dame and committed to Auburn instead.

It’s interesting, for no other reason than coincidence, that a team called the Tigers were involved on that side as well.

In this case, it might be alls well that ends well for the Notre Dame football team. By all accounts, Hebert was less of a backup plan than Plan A Part 2. There is even some talk that he was the Irish’s top target before he committed to Clemson in the first place. Either way, he’s theirs now and Freeman and company intend to keep him.