Desmond Howard thinks Dabo Swinney pays too much attention to the media, and Paul Finebaum thinks the Clemson head coach doesn’t pay enough.
Finebaum spent Sunday’s episode of The Matt Barrie Show, claiming it was “over” for Swinney at Clemson after the Tigers fell to 1-3 on the season following a 34-21 loss to Syracuse. It’s a fall from grace for Swinney, who saw his program fall to its worst start under his leadership.
ESPN cameras caught Swinney teary-eyed afterward, to which he claimed that he’s not a “cyborg,” and invested 23 years of his life in those hills in Upstate South Carolina. And perhaps it’s that type of genuineness that makes Finbeuam feel like Swinney would be a good fit for TV.
Clemson HC Dabo Swinney crying after today’s loss to Syracuse pic.twitter.com/HVxTg1X4Rx
— Fire somebody at Clemson, MBA 👾 (@Cambology) September 20, 2025
“It’s time for him to do one of two things: it’s either consider another school, and I think he is hirable if he quits talking,” said Finebaum. “Or just get away from football and become a TV guy. He’s very funny. He’d be very glib. He’s got more credentials than any other non-TV coach out there… of the people that could leave coaching and go into TV, he would be very coveted. Finebaum.”
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum with a predictably strong take this morning: Dabo Swinney should go into broadcasting or coach at another school: “I think it’s over at Clemson … he lost it, he got it back, now he’s lost it again — and he’s lost it badly. It’s time for him to go.” pic.twitter.com/wA2iVFIuIz
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) September 21, 2025
Except Swinney wants to keep coaching. As he vehemently defended his program and his resume earlier this week, he claimed that if Clemson were tired of winning, he would gladly go coach somewhere else before sitting on a beach somewhere. Finebaum also suggested as much, before declaring it’s “time for him to go.”
Go where exactly? Well, Finebaum’s own network would back up the Brink’s truck to find a way to pair Swinney with Nick Saban, but that feels like a pipe dream more than based in reality. But then again, Finebaum’s feelings towards Swinney have never been totally based in reality, considering we had this same conversation in 2024.
Finebaum said Swinney was “really done” at Clemson, only for the Tigers to turn around and win their conference and secure a College Football Playoff. That’s all to say that maybe what Clemson needs to revive its program is one more Finebaum rant that declares Swinney and the university’s status as a blue blood as dead in the water.
Unfortunately, this time it isn’t just Finebaum kicking dirt at a program that’s lost its way. It remains to be seen if Swinney — and Clemson — can find its way, or if the two-time National Championship-winning head coach will be Finebaum’s colleague in the media.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.