Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney did not take long to find a successor for Marion Hobby on the defensive line. The Clemson Insider confirmed Sunday night through multiple sources that Jacksonville State defensive line coach Todd Bates will be Clemson’s new defensive line coach.

Bates will replace Hobby, who left Clemson this past week to be the new defensive line coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Bates just completed his third season at Jacksonville State. TCI still expects Lemanski Hall, a defensive analyst on Swinney’s staff the last two years, to be the second defensive line coach when the NCAA approves that Division I staffs can have 10 assistant coaches. That is expected to be passed in April and will be go into effect immediately after it is passed.

Earlier in the week, Swinney promoted Mickey Conn to assistant coach, filling former defensive tackles coach Dan Brook’s spot on the staff. Brooks officially retired on Wednesday. Conn has already been out on the road recruiting for Clemson. Conn was a defensive analyst coach on the Tigers’ staff this past season.

According to the Jacksonville State’s official Web site Bates, like his new boss, played for Alabama from 2001-2004 and graduated in 2005 with a degree in Business Management. While playing for the Crimson Tide, Bates was the only true freshman to play for the Tide in 2001.

He was also selected SEC Defensive Player of the Week twice, and named permanent team captain for the 2004 season. After college, Bates played for the Tennessee Titans as a defensive end from 2005 through the 2006 season.

Bates began his coaching career at Talladega High School in 2007. The following year, he coached at Oxford High School under current JSU head coach John Grass, where he was an assistant football coach for the Yellow Jackets, as well as the head strength and conditioning coach. He spent the next two years at Idaho State coaching the defensive line.

In 2015, JSU led the nation in tackles for a loss after recording a school-record 136 stops in the backfield, an average of 9.0 per game that ranked fourth in FCS.

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