Dabo Swinney goes off on Clemson fan during radio show
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney after the 14-8 win over Georgia Tech in Clemson, S.C., September 18, 2021. Credit: Ken Ruinard / staff via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Dabo Swinney recognizes that his 4-4 Clemson Tigers are having a very disappointing season, but he doesn’t have time for spoiled fans calling him out over it.
Swinney hosted his weekly “Tiger Calls” radio show on Monday. A fan named “Tyler in Spartanburg” called in and complained about Clemson’s poor season. The fan offered some serious criticism of Swinney, saying that the Clemson coach sounded like his predecessor, Tommy Bowden. The fan said that Swinney had changed after winning the national championship in 2018 and became arrogant. The fan then asked why Swinney is being paid $11.5 million to go 4-4.
“I’m curious why are we paying you $11.5 million to go 4-4?” the fan said.
Swinney was very obviously irritated and cut off the fan at that point, saying “this is enough of you, Tyler.”
Swinney, who earns $10.8 million per year, then began to go on a several-minute long response. He accused the fan of not being grateful and appreciative of all Swinney has accomplished since taking over at Clemson after the 2008 season. Swinney pointed out how he went from being the lowest-paid coach (earning under $1 million per year) to making the money he makes now because he earned it through all the success.
“You can have all your opinions that 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, to be honest with you, because that is part of the problem. It’s people like you that all you do is- The expectation is greater than the appreciation. And that’s the problem,” Swinney began.
Swinney acknowledged it was a bad year and took responsibility for it.
“Is this a bad year? Yeah, and it’s my responsibility. I take 100% responsibility for it. But all this bull crap you’re thinking and all these narratives you read, listen man, you can have your opinion all you want. You can apply for the job, and good luck to you. But to answer your question, we’re second in draft picks. We’ve graduated 98% of our guys. We’re second in wins. If you want to know why, I’m telling you, we’re not perfect. There’s a lot of teams that — Frank Howard never had a bad year? Coach (Danny) Ford never had a bad year? Coach K never had a bad year in basketball? People have a bad year.”
The Greenville News has a full transcription of Swinney’s response.
Swinney has been Clemson’s head coach since 2009. He led the Tigers to 12 straight double-digit win seasons — a streak that has ended this season. He has won two national championships and built the program into a powerhouse. Some Clemson fans have become used to the Tigers being the dominant program in the ACC and an annual College Football Playoff contender. So seeing the program lose badly to the likes of Duke and N.C. State is frustrating and not what they have become accustomed to.
Below are the clips of both the fan’s phone call and Swinney’s reply. They’re worth your time.
This clip includes the full phone call made by the fan:
Dabo Swinney gets fired up on his radio call-in show after obnoxious caller asks how he has a $10.5 million salary, calls him arrogant, insults his coaching hires, and compares him to former Clemson HC Tommy Bowden. pic.twitter.com/pfu164e49l
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) October 31, 2023
This clip includes Swinney’s full answer:
Tyler from Spartanburg wanted to know why Dabo Swinney is being paid $11M.
Dabo went off!
“I worked my ass off…
You're part of the problem. If you wanna apply for the job, go for it…
You ain’t gonna talk to me like I’m 12 years old."
This is a glorious 5 minutes. pic.twitter.com/pdHxoRNCOg
— Jon Tweets Sports (@jontweetssports) October 31, 2023
