It’s hard to break Dabo Swinney, the eternal optimist, but it appears as if a Clemson fan named Tyler from Spartanburg did so on Monday.
One of the best parts of college football is that head coaches like Swinney, who are paid millions of dollars by their respective programs, will field calls from fans on weekly radio shows during a regular season.
But when things aren’t going particularly well — and they aren’t for Clemson — that can lead to some confrontation, and coaches tend to blow up on someone whether it’s Tyler from Spartanburg or Joe Schmoe from Fort Wayne, Indiana, especially if their credentials are questioned even the slightest bit.
Now Swinney may and does rub a lot of people the wrong way, but it’s very rare that you see the two-time National Championship-winning head coach go scorched earth on his fans. Earlier this month, Swinney suggested that some fans have “such a terrible mindset” when it comes to their expectations and even suggested it could be good to lose a few games to get those fans off the Clemson bandwagon.
Those comments were made more tongue-in-cheek than the ones he made on Monday.
Swinney ripped into a fan, who told him that he sounded a whole lot like Tommy Bowden and asked him why Clemson is paying him a huge salary just to go 4-4.
Dabo Swinney went scorched earth on Tyler from Spartanburg during his radio call-in show on Monday.
Here’s the question from Tyler and answer from Swinney via (@CFBKings)https://t.co/oaqpbUipCp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 31, 2023
Dabo Swinney ripping into a fan who asks him why Clemson's paying him a huge salary just to go 4-4. "You're part of the problem." Also says to the fan, Tyler, "if you wanna apply for the job, go for it. And good luck to you" This is a lengthy, fiery answer here by Dabo
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) October 31, 2023
Swinney, who puts on a much better face in his postgame press conferences, didn’t seem to be handling this one or Clemson’s two-game losing streak, particularly well.
“You’re part of the problem,” Swinney told Tyler from Spartanburg.
Swinney also told the fan, “If you wanna apply for the job, go for it. And good luck to you.”
Prior to last week’s 24-17 loss to NC State, Clemson had gone 12 straight seasons of at least winning 10 games. That streak came to a crashing close this past weekend, as the Tigers have four regular-season losses for the first time since 2010.
And fans are rightfully upset, as Swinney has seemingly refused to adapt to modern college football. He’s used the transfer portal only twice, to bring in backup quarterbacks Hunter Johnson and Paul Tyson- the former having played at Clemson prior to transferring to Northwestern. As well as his refusal to make NIL the forefront of Clemson’s recruiting approach, while other programs have taken advantage of the new measures.
“You can have all your opinions you want. I don’t know how old you are, don’t really care. But let me tell you something, we won 11 games last year and you’re part of the problem.”
The second caller is going in Dabo Swinney.
“Why are we paying you $11.5 million to make 4-4.”
Swinney is fiery in response.
“You can have all your opinions you want. I don’t know how old you are, don’t care. We won 11 games last year and you’re part of the problem.”
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) October 31, 2023
Swinney went on to say that Clemson has won so much that people have lost an appreciation for winning.
But Swinney was holding firm on his stance about his salary.
“I started as the lowest-paid coach in this freakin’ business. And I’m where I am because I’ve worked my ass off every single day, and I ain’t gonna let some smart-ass kid get on this phone and create this stuff. So, if you got a problem with that, I don’t care.”
"To answer your question, I started as the lowest-paid coach in this business … I worked my ass off. I'm not gonna let this smart-ass kid get on the phone" and tell me how to do my job. "I work for the board of trustees." This the hottest he's been all season 100% https://t.co/X5u4BmkwZq
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) October 31, 2023
He wasn’t done there.
“15 years later, I’m still here. And I’d say the results are what they are and I’ll stand on them,” he said. “So you don’t ever have to call back. I wanted to get married. I’ve been married for going on 30 years. I wanted to be a father. I’ve raised three great sons. If you don’t like how I run the program, don’t be a fan. I don’t care.
“But I’m the head coach and I’m going to do what I believe is right for the long term of this program, what’s best for the players, and what I think’s best for the moment. If you got a problem with that, that’s fine, but I’m not gonna see you sit here and let you call in. I don’t give a crap how much money I make. You ain’t gonna talk to me like I’m 12 years old. You’ve got to be freakin’ kidding me.”
Swinney says to the caller “15 years later I’m still here and I’d say the results are what they are and I stand on them. You don’t ever have to call back.”
“You ain’t gonna talk to me like I’m 12 years old. You be frickin’ kidding me.”
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) October 31, 2023
Swinney made it clear that he doesn’t work for Tyler in Spartanburg but for the Board of Trustees, the president, and the athletic director. According to USA TODAY’s annual college football coach salaries list, Swinney’s salary for 2022-23 is $10.8 million. So, it’s understandable why Tyler would take aim at his salary considering the results or lack thereof, but the Spartanburg native did get personal with Swinney, telling the head coach that he’s become arrogant since his title win in 2018.
“People like you who just love to destroy people with your comments. I’m sure you’ve never made any bad decisions, I’m sure you’ve lived a perfect life.”
Dabo Swinney was rolling, and I wasn’t able to transcribe it all.
But the other part I got exact, he said “People like you who just love to destroy people with your comments. I’m sure you’ve never made any bad decisions, I’m sure you’ve lived a perfect life.” https://t.co/iJ520VwML5
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) October 31, 2023
As someone who covered Clemson for a year and a half, I can tell you that I’ve never seen Swinney this fired up. My focus was on the recruiting beat, but I did ask Swinney my fair share of questions. I thought he always gave thoughtful and genuine answers, and while they were usually spun positively, that’s just who he is as a head coach and you either love it or you hate it.
Clearly, the criticism has reached a boiling point for Swinney, who wasn’t going to let some kid named Tyler from Spartanburg lecture him on his team’s shortcomings. He’s already heard plenty of it this season. And if Monday is any indication, that fuse happens to be just a little short.
