Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s latest defense of his program has sent Paul Finebaum off the deep end.
Swinney defiantly said at ACC Media Days on Thursday that he had nothing to prove to anyone having already won a national title, and pointed to the success Clemson has had over the last 15 years. That did not fly with Finebaum, who accused Swinney of spending too much time harping on past glories without adding any more success.
“I am getting so exasperated listening to Dabo tell us how great he used to be. They’re not great anymore,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s “Get Up!” “You don’t hear Brady talking about his Super Bowls. 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 nine games this year, maybe they won’t, but they lost six games last year with the Heisman favorite. That is downright embarrassing.”
"Dabo is just stuck on stupid right now trying to convince us that his program is still legitimate. It's not."@Finebaum is TIRED of hearing Dabo Swinney talk about the past 🏈 pic.twitter.com/fzux2ubj2x
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 17, 2026
This is far from the first time Swinney has put forward a defiant message like this one. While no one disputes his accomplishments at Clemson, his team has only made the College Football Playoff once since 2019, and lost in the first round on that occasion. The Tigers went 7-6 last season and finished the year unranked for the first time since 2010.
Swinney has often been criticized for failing to adapt to college football’s modern landscape. Even his mentor has suggested as much. Finebaum is essentially putting it much more bluntly.
