Dabo Swinney reportedly peppered Ravens front office with texts about top defensive back during draft

Since taking over at Clemson in 2009, Dabo Swinney has been unapologetically himself.

During a 12-season stretch of consecutive double-digit win seasons that included two national titles and a four national title game appearances over a five-year period, you could argue that Dabo was one of the most popular coaches in college football.

For whatever reason, Dabo's public persona seems to have undergone a shift recently, and two instances from this past fall come to mind.

After a 2-2 start this past fall with losses to Duke and Florida State, criticism of Dabo was everywhere you looked, and that led to a controversial by Swinney about perhaps needing to lose a few more games to "lighten the bandwagon."

A few weeks later, after suffering their fourth (and what would end up being their final loss of a 9-4 campaign for the 2023 season), he snapped on a caller who was critical of his salary after the .500 start.

Today, following the first round of the NFL Draft last night, ESPN shared an article how Dabo was shooting multiple texts to the Ravens front office about his top player being available leading up to their pick.

"We were getting texts from the head coach," Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta shared after the pick.

"Dabo was texting us during the first round [saying], 'Please take this guy.'"

The Ravens did end up picking Clemson corner Nate Wiggins last night with the 30th pick, and Swinney shared later on in the night that the NFL bound corner is as talented of a player as they've ever had at that position in Dabo's time with the program.

Maybe there's nothing more to read into about Dabo peppering the Ravens with texts other than the veteran head coach just trying to do everything in his power to see his talented player go to a team that has a history of playing great defense and seems to have a great culture in place.

That could really be all there is to it.

The flip side of the coin is that NFL front offices prepare for this moment for months, and often evaluate prospects for years before pouring over their measurables from combines and pro days to make their pick. Heck, the Rams spent $6 million on a Draft House and became the only NFL team to create a mobile war room outside of their facility for the big event

There's a lot of homework being done, and a lot of resources being invested into making the right pick at the right time. While it's far from an exact science, are constant texts from a team's head coach on draft day the thing that move the needle in a positive direction for a guy?

In the video Clemson captured after the Ravens pick, you can see the pride beaming from Dabo after a special moment for his guy.