He became the coach of several players that later became professional footballers, including Steven Defour and Joren Dom.
After a short stint at lower-level team Katelijne Waver, Swinnen returned to KV Mechelen and became assistant in 2012.
He held this position until 2020 but then was appointed the new role of Head of Performance, in which he set up an intensive collaboration between KV Mechelen and Dutch club Helmond Sport.
When Helmond Sport sacked Wil Boessen in February 2022, Swinnen took over as manager but was unable to improve the clubs position in the standings causing the team to end dead-last, despite a notable win against Emmen.
Swinnen also took over for one match due to Marc Brys being absent for personal reasons in February 2023, but the left at the end of the 2022–23 season to rejoin KV Mechelen as manager of the youth squad.