Dabo Swinney has been the head coach of the Clemson Tigers football team since 2008 and has been the engine behind the program’s transformation from a middle-of-the-road ACC team into a perennial national championship contender.
However, Swinney has struggled to adapt to a college football landscape where the transfer portal, NIL, and local courts seem to reign supreme, and it has been seven years since Clemson’s last title. While Swinney’s former rival turned ESPN analyst, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, doesn’t see the longtime Tigers coach bolting for greener pastures after finishing last season just 7-6 and going 4-4 in ACC play, one of his colleagues at the Worldwide Leader is tired of hearing from Swinney about his program’s past.
“Somebody should dunk (Swinney) in that Raising Cane’s sauce because I am getting so, just exasperated listening to Dabo tell us how great he used to be,” Paul Finebaum said on Friday’s episode of Get Up.
Paul Finebaum: “I am getting so exasperated listening to [Dabo Swinney] tell us how great he used to be. They’re not great anymore… Dabo is just stuck on stupid right now trying to convince us that [Clemson] is still legitimate. It’s not…”pic.twitter.com/da4WlTqAAP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 17, 2026
“They’re not great anymore. You don’t hear Brady talking about his Super Bowls or LeBron or any of the great— I mean, Dabo is just stuck on stupid right now trying to convince us that his program is still legitimate. It’s not.
“It’s slipping and sliding away. It’s good. Maybe they’ll win 9 games this year. Maybe they won’t. But they lost 6 games last year with the Heisman favorite. That is downright embarrassing.”
Swinney and Clemson will open the 2026 campaign with one of the most anticipated games of the season in a clash with the LSU Tigers and new head coach Lane Kiffin, another head coach whom Finebaum has been highly critical of as of late. Whoever wins will be well positioned for the type of season that could make the analyst walk back his criticism.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.