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CLEMSON -- Upon getting the interim coaching job in October of 2008, Dabo Swinney elevated Willy Korn to starting quarterback to try to juice up a slumbering offense.
Tommy Bowden had already made the decision to promote Korn over Cullen Harper, but Swinney affirmed it with Bowden out the door.
"This is a game of performance, not potential," Swinney said then. "If you're the best guy, be the best guy. There's no hidden agendas here. ... The film doesn't lie."
What was true on Oct. 13, 2008, when the big question was whether Swinney had any clue how to be a head coach, remains true all these years later with Swinney cemented as a Hall of Fame coach.
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As much as college football makes fools of us all because of its unpredictability and zaniness that keep us totally riveted for months at a time, there is also a beauty in the cold reality of what Swinney articulated above.
Swinney played it right in how he managed the quarterback situation during the game Saturday. That was the right time to make the call for the backup, after DJ Uiagalelei made a poor decision and a poorer throw for another turnover in the third quarter with Syracuse threatening to run away with it.
Swinney and Brandon Streeter also played it right in how they managed the game with Cade Klubnik in -- a task that's much harder than it looks when you're trying to overcome a double-digit deficit while also playing it safe when the human instinct is to try to get it all back at one time.
And the head coach had all the right and necessary touches in how he framed the situation moving forward. That's another difficult and overlooked part of leadership, particularly so closely removed from an emotional, white-knuckle game.
Swinney described it as "just one of them days" for Uiagalelei, likening it to an off shooting day for a great basketball player or a bad day at the plate for a great baseball player.
He said Uiagalelei has built enough equity to continue as the starter moving forward. And he cited his status as the team's leader, a vital facet that was backed up by the words of other coaches and players after the game.
But Swinney also said Uiagalelei has to be better. As in: This is a game of performance.
Over Swinney's brilliant tenure there isn't much precedent for a situation quite like this, this late in a season, with these stakes.
There was the short-lived Korn stint in 2008, as the beloved backup wasn't ready for primetime that day against Georgia Tech and was quickly replaced by Cullen Harper.
In 2010 Kyle Parker was benched for Tajh Boyd late in the season against South Carolina and then against South Florida in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, but that team finished 6-7.
In 2014 there were alternating quarterbacks late into the season, but that was because of injury and everyone knew Deshaun Watson was worlds better than Cole Stoudt.
Kelly Bryant was balky at times down the stretch of the 2017 regular season, but overall he was clearly the best option even if he wasn't anywhere in the galaxy of the guy he replaced or the guy who would replace him in 2018.
In 2020 there was a change at quarterback in late October and early November, but that was because Trevor Lawrence was out with COVID and Uiagalelei's excellent two-game stint showed that Clemson had a heck of a backup.
The Tigers did not have that last season, when Taisun Phommachanh wasn't good enough to displace Uiagalelei as he descended into a season-long funk.
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Those images of 2021 are impossible to ignore in view of similar images Saturday. It might well be that this was an aberration, Uiagalelei moves past it and never looks back.
But even before Syracuse there were some signs of regression. The early pick at Boston College, all those three-and-outs, and Swinney's decision to step on the gas on offense late with the matter long since decided.
There were some really nice throws and runs from Uiagalelei in Tallahassee, but also some jitteriness and an inability to see receivers running free down the field.
Not as loose and free. Not as rhythmic.
He was still pretty good even as Swinney made efforts to get him going in those two games, but pretty good became pretty bad Saturday.
In Klubnik you certainly have an upgrade over Phommachanh, someone who's capable of pushing Uiagalelei and who gives this offense some of the spark it needs. But also a freshman who's still unquestionably (and understandably) developing mentally and physically in his first year of the college game.
Swinney and everyone else are going to do their best over the next two weeks to rally behind Uiagalelei, as they should. And while this might not totally qualify as a quarterback controversy, it does feel like it could be a quandary.
