Clemson football boss Dabo Swinney is set to bolster his staff by bringing onboard former East Carolina head coach Mike Houston. The hiring move is intended to enhance the Tigers’ defensive coaching staff, ESPN senior writer Pete Thamel tweeted on X.
Houston will be working with defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who recently came to Clemson from Penn State. Bonesville had been unable to confirm Houston’s role on the staff and compensation arrangements before this report was filed.
A Mars Hill graduate and a native of Franklin, NC, Houston brings solid coaching experience to the Tigers. He served five and a half seasons as ECU’s head coach in his most recent role, a stint that included two bowl bids before the program suffered a downturn in 2023 and 2024. Houston and ECU departed ways midway through last season.
He previously led James Madison to an FCS national championship, coached The Citadel to a share of the Southern Conference title and guided Division II Lenoir-Rhyne to three straight South Atlantic Conference championships.
So we had a head coach that really isn’t even a defensive coordinator at a top program.
Good for him. Houston is a quality man – silly to say negative stuff about this guy IMO. He inherited a mess and made us competitive again. He set us up for a better future whether you agree or not. Go back and look at the rosters of what he came in to and what he left. Many changes in the landscape while he was coach. Upward and onward! Good for him, Glad for the success of Harrell!! Go Pirates!!
One of my good friends who played for ECU from 1969-1973 said he heard Coach Houston say “If I had known the mess this program was in, I would have stayed in Charlotte”.
I’d hoped he’d land on his feet, and it looks like he did. Under difficult circumstances, he handled himself with dignity; that much I’ll give him.
His dossier coming here looked really good, arguably deserving of the big payday, but it never really translated. I was surprised that the administration cut the line when it did; rumors say that patrons really drove it. Based on the immediate results, it was a good move, and someone postulated that they also made the move when they did because they knew he might manage to win the upcoming games vs. poor opposition, which could’ve made it harder to axe him at a later point.
Either way, I think that an icon of the new energy when BH moved into the job was the two-minute drill aggressiveness and success in most of the remaining games, whereas to me MH always looked like he was coaching timidly, not to lose.
BH has done great so far, and earned the job, but I’m holding my breath after the significant hits the roster has taken.