ESPN analyst rips Dabo Swinney after ugly loss

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

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is already facing some new questions after an ugly season-opening loss to Georgia.

The Bulldogs blew out Clemson 34-3 at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday, with the game turning into a blowout in the second half. Georgia was only up 6-0 at halftime, but dominated the second half, with the Clemson offense held to just 188 total yards.

ESPN’s Booger McFarland did not hold back on Swinney and Clemson after the game. Not only did McFarland reiterate the long-standing criticism about Swinney’s reluctance to use the transfer portal, but he took it a step further and called Clemson’s entire scheme outdated.

Booger McFarland had some criticism following Saturday's 34-3 loss to Georgia.

One of Booger's main issues was how coach Dabo Swinney uses (or more specifically doesn't use) the transfer portal. pic.twitter.com/zajp1aoKw3

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024

“No creativity on offense. It’s been the same stale offense for four or five years,” McFarland said. “The quarterback, Cade Klubnik, no ability to push the football down the field. If you’re a Clemson fan, you have to ask yourself: when are we going to change? When are we going to be able to be creative when we don’t have the explosive players that you’ve already heard of?

“Every recruiting class is not going to hit on every player. The transfer portal allows you to go in and, if you need a wide receiver, if you need a safety, if you need some quarterback competition for Cade Klubnik, to bring someone in, Dabo chooses not to. Therefore, you’re going to have those lulls in the program. I’m afraid, right now, they have a little bit of a lull.”

To say Clemson did not look like a contender is understating it. Swinney is a hugely successful coach and a talented recruiter, but the transfer portal is increasingly used by other programs as a route to quick success. Swinney has made it clear he wants to stick to his ways and develop players while also claiming that players in the portal simply are not good enough for his program. That is an odd thing to say when the likes of Alabama and Ohio State are not shy about finding players there.

Clemson made four championship games in five years between 2015 and 2019. Since then, they have not even returned to the playoff, and the college football landscape has changed around Swinney. At some point, Swinney might have no choice but to adapt or risk reverting back to the eight or nine win team he inherited back in 2008.