Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers are still recovering from what ended up being a disastrous 2025 college football season.

At the beginning of the year, Clemson was widely expected to be a National Championship contender. By the end of the season, the Tigers barely made a bowl game.

Right off the bat to begin the season, it was clear that Clemson was in trouble. To open the year, the Tigers lost at home to LSU. They then struggled to defeat Troy at home before losing back-to-back game against Georgia Tech on the road and Syracuse at home.

By that point in the season, Clemson's championship hopes had already been eliminated. Unfortunately, Swinney and company could not get a hold of the rest of the season and the Tigers finished the year with a 7-5 record. They also lost to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl.

With that disaster behind Clemson, the future of Swinney as head coach has been called into question.

Most recently, Brad Crawford of CBS Sports has named Swinney as a potential hot seat candidate entering the 2026 season.

No, the 2025 season is not the biggest reason for Swinney being on the hot seat. Instead, it's about the future of Clemson football.

With all of the changes coming to college football, especially with the transfer portal and NIL, Swinney has shown no willingness to switch his mindset on how to build a successful program. He has not caught up to the times.

Sadly, it's unlikely that he'll be able to make those changes. For the Tigers to remain a competitive contender, they'll need to embrace the changing dynamic. Clemson will need to get aggressive in the transfer portal and with using NIL incentives.

Swinney could surprise all of us and make those changes. He made some solid additions in the portal this offseason, but not enough to move the needle for 2026. In order to compete next season, the Tigers will need young players to take a step forward and for the freshman class to play a key role.

Unless he shows an ability and willingness to make the necessary changes, Clemson should strongly consider a change.

Barring a huge bounce-back season in 2026 and a College Football Playoff appearance, Swinney may very well be heading into his last season with the Tigers. That will be a sad day when the parties part ways, but it could end up being necessary for Clemson to remain relevant.