Dabo Swinney’s press conferences this season — much like his Clemson Tigers’ season as a whole — have been a roller coaster. Now, with the preseason No. 4 team sitting at 1-3, he’s taking accountability for the disappointing start.
“From a big picture standpoint, it’s just been a coaching failure, honestly,” Swinney said. “That’s the best way I can say it. We have just failed as coaches. I’m not taking accountability away from the players. I mean, they got accountability in this too. You got some guys that gotta play better. …
“I’m not pointing a finger, I’m pointing a thumb. It starts with me.”
Here’s the video of the full quote, courtesy of Marc Whiteman of WYFF News 4:
Swinney said that coaches not coaching to their potential and players not players to their potential ultimately falls on him, too, because he hired the staff and helped form the roster.
After a 17-10 loss to LSU to open the season, Clemson slogged past Troy 27-16 in a game it trailed 16-0 early. Swinney’s Tigers then lost at Georgia Tech 24-21 and 34-21 at Syracuse. The Tigers had a much-needed bye this past weekend.
The offense, led by preseason Heisman contender Cade Klubnik, is averaging 365.3 yards per play, 14th in the 17-team ACC, and the Tigers’ 19.8 points per game are last in the conference. A defense loaded with NFL talent up front is 12th in yards per game allowed (362).
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After the loss to Georgia Tech, Swinney went on the defensive, saying, “If they want me gone, they’re tired of winning, they can send me on the way, because that’s all we’ve done is win” as part of a long rant.
It remains unlikely that Swinney would be fired considering his enormous buyout, but Clemson’s 1-3 start is his worst as the team’s coach.
Swinney will hope the turnaround starts this weekend, when his team faces another notable coach struggling at the start of the season: Bill Belichick. Belichick’s North Carolina team is 2-2 this season with wins over Charlotte and Richmond and blowout losses against TCU and UCF.
Clemson faces North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Saturday at noon ET.
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