“It Is Over For Dabo Swinney”: CFB Analyst Shoots Down 2026 Clemson Tigers After Week 1 Loss
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Dabo Swinney has been one of the best coaches in this era of college football. He has gotten the Clemson Tigers to be a consistent bowl team in each of his first 18 seasons with the program. However, Clemson has not been viewed as a juggernaut lately after a 7-6 season in 2025. After Saturday’s 51-10 loss to begin the season against the LSU Tigers, a lot of people are discussing Dabo Swinney’s future. Let’s take a deeper dive into one of the prominent voices of college football’s thoughts about Swinney and the Tigers.
Paul Finebaum calls out Dabo Swinney after Week 1 loss
It certainly was not the start to the 2026 season that the Clemson Tigers were hoping for. It was the first time since 2011 that the program entered a season unranked. The 51-10 loss to the LSU Tigers in the team’s first game certainly left a sour taste in many people’s mouths, including college football analyst Paul Finebaum.
Finebaum appeared on The Matt Barrie Show on Sunday and discussed why he thinks it is time for Dabo Swinney to look in the mirror and admit college football has passed him by.
“Clemson is a shell of itself. I’ve been critical of Dabo Swinney for a long time. And the reason I’ve been critical is because this program has been sliding into the abyss. I believe last year they had resurrected the program. You heard the same things I heard. They have not. It is over for Dabo Swinney. It’s time for him to take a good long look at himself. Quit the protestations every Tuesday when he shows up at the media (scrum), quit trying to remind people of what he once was. He is no more. The game has passed him by.”
However, Finebaum makes sure to say that just because he has these harsh critiques, it does not mean he is calling for Dabo Swinney’s job.
“And when I say it’s over, I don’t mean Clemson should fire him. That is not what I’m talking about. Clemson’s administrator, though, should talk to Dabo Swinney and say, ‘this is the best you can come up with? You went out and hired Chad Morris, who has been run out of a number of places since his last glory days, and you thought that was going to solve the problem? Are you serious?’ That’s like your air conditioner breaking in your new house, and then you go down to a trading line and get an old air conditioner that’s already been broken down, and think that’s going to fix it. He cannot salvage this program.”
College football can change quickly, and a Week 1 loss does not mean the season is over. The Tigers play again on Saturday against the Georgia Southern Eagles, so a good week can really change the perception of this Clemson program. It will be interesting to see what the future of Dabo Swinney is if the Tigers face a rough season.
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The post “It Is Over For Dabo Swinney”: CFB Analyst Shoots Down 2026 Clemson Tigers After Week 1 Loss appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.
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