Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has come under fire once again from Paul Finebaum.
The Clemson Tigers and head coach Dabo Swinney are facing a lot of pressure heading into the 2026 college football season.
Last year, they were expected to be a top-tier national championship contender. Unfortunately, the Tigers were only able to muster up a 7-6 record and came nowhere close to being a contender.
Heading into the upcoming season, Clemson is expected to take a step forward. Swinney seems confident in his team's ability, but the fact of the matter is that he could be on the hot seat if the Tigers fail once again.
Ahead of the 2026 campaign, Swinney made a bold promise to the fans to take Clemson back to the top.
“We’ve been to the top many times around here, and we’re gonna take Clemson back to the top. That’s going to happen,” Swinney said. “Whether it happens this year, I don’t know. But my main objective is to make sure we get the arrow pointed back where it needs to be, and that we’re a tougher football team mentally. That’s been a big focus for us.”
With that being said, Swinney has received a lot of criticism this offseason. Some even believe that another season like last year would cost him his job. Paul Finebaum has been one of the most openly critical about the longtime Tigers head coach.
During an appearance on ESPN's "Get Up" on Friday, Finebaum once again took aim at Swinney.
“I am getting so, just exasperated, listening to Dabo tell us how great he used to be. They’re not great anymore. You don’t hear [Tom] Brady talking about his Super Bowls or LeBron [James] or any of the greats," Finebaum said.
"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.”
Despite the open criticism and harsh words, Swinney has put together a strong track record during his time at Clemson. He has won a lot of football games and has led the program to two National Championship wins. Swinney has a career record of 187-53 with the Tigers.
While there is undoubtedly pressure to take the proud football program back to the top, it would be shocking to see Clemson fire Swinney if the 2026 season doesn't go according to plan. He has earned a bit more leash.
That being said, the Tigers do need to get back on track. Swinney has been recruiting well recently, but the program will need to prove that it can get back to winning over the next year or two, or changes could end up coming.
