This one deserves another failing grade, Professor Swinney.
If the Week 1 loss to LSU was worth a 65 out of 100, Saturday’s 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech should be in the 50s. Not only for what played out on the field, but for what it means in terms of the big picture.
A 1-2 start, its first since 2014, means it is “Groundhog Day” and we are again having the Clemson conversation on whether Swinney’s approach can win in this modern era of college football. It was a popular talking point a year ago after Georgia throttled Clemson, 34-3, in the season opener, as plenty questioned Swinney’s roster-building strategy and refusal to go after transfer players as outdated.
But then the Tigers somehow won the ACC and made the College Football Playoff. After looking mostly competent against Texas, Clemson became a popular title pick in 2025. Swinney famously said he thought this year’s team could go 16-0.
Loss to Georgia Tech confirms harsh new reality for Clemson — nobody fears the Tigers anymore
Chip Patterson
On paper, it all made sense, too. Clemson returned a star quarterback Cade Klubnik, who some viewed as a potential No. 1 overall NFL draft pick, and two defensive linemen, Peter Woods and T.J. Parker, who could be top 10 picks. Add in new defensive coordinator Tom Allen, fresh off a successful stint with Penn State, and a lot of returning production elsewhere and it was easy to talk yourself into this team being a real title contender.
But there is something missing with this Clemson team, and it’s not just the running game. Three games into the season, a title contender is all but eliminated from making the playoff field. It’s not impossible for Clemson to find its way back into the mix, but nothing we’ve seen so far this season indicates it is remotely likely.
Clemson looks mediocre and not anywhere close to the elite team we thought could run through the ACC. The season-opening loss to LSU was painful but understandable. It’s a home game Clemson should have won and there were multiple concerns coming out of it, but losing to a top 10 opponent isn’t worthy of panic.
Being down 16-0 to what looks like a not great Troy team was the sign something was off. Clemson found a way to win the game, 27-16, but it never should have been that close, especially at home and coming off the loss to LSU. Troy, for what it’s worth, lost 28-7 to Memphis this week.
Following Clemson’s close call against Troy, the betting money flowed onto Georgia Tech. The line kept moving down. It made sense but then you remembered Swinney owned Georgia Tech and hadn’t lost to the Yellow Jackets since 2014. Surely, Clemson would keep the winning streak going and get back on track.
Nope.
Instead, Clemson’s season is in tatters already and Swinney is back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
“I’ve had enough praise and criticism to last three lifetimes,” Swinney said after the game. “I’ll be fine. But I hurt for our team and our fans. These are great kids. They care. It’s not the start we wanted, but we’ve got to find a way forward.”
Is Swinney capable of looking in the mirror and making material changes to his program? Here’s where the most upset of Clemson fans will tell you Swinney has already done that. He fired the bad OC and brought in the Broyles-winning Garrett Riley. He fired the bad DC and brought in the respected Tom Allen.
It may just be the reality that Clemson is stuck in a “it’s not bad but it’s not as good as it once was” purgatory under the two-time national title-winning coach?
There’s no denying what Swinney has done for the program and those highs of the title wins over Alabama in the 2010s won’t soon be forgotten. Plus, with a $60 million-plus buyout, he’s not going anywhere any time soon. No matter how frustrated the fanbase is in this moment, Swinney is going to get more time to work things out.
The question is whether Swinney can evolve enough to keep up with how the game has changed. The glory days have passed Dabo by, and he has to make bold moves to reclaim them before one day Clemson AD Graham Neff is forced to make a bold move himself.
Dabo’s tried to be more aggressive with staff hires, to mild success with Allen and Riley. He finally nabbed a key contributor out of the transfer portal in Purdue’s Will Heldt, who leads the team with two sacks. Heldt has been exactly what Clemson has needed, they just need more players like him.
Could Clemson be more aggressive in the next transfer portal window? It would go against everything Swinney has been about in program-building to this point, but after a disappointing season and with an expected talent exodus to the NFL, he has to be more open to it. The most fascinating plot line of the offseason may be whether Swinney pulls in a proven transfer QB after Klubnik leaves, with questions about longtime backup Christopher Vizzina. The stakes are high there; decorated sophomore WRs Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore are going to want the ball in their contract years.
The team Swinney lost to in Week 1 is the perfect example of how much difference an aggressive yet targeted portal approach can make. LSU’s defense just forced Florida QB DJ Lagway to throw five interceptions and has become the strength of the team. Swinney could sure use some of that in Clemson, but it is absolutely anathema to Swinney’s nature to bring in a transfer quarterback.
As a famous saying goes, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Swinney and Clemson find themselves at those crossroads yet again. They bamboozled us this season thinking it would be different, but not again.
If significant changes don’t occur, we’ll be here again next year writing the same thing.
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