Paul Finebaum Shares Shocking Dabo Swinney Take After Clemson Loss

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It's no secret that Paul Finebaum is not a fan of Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney, and he spent much of the offseason bashing the program.

Well, Finebaum certainly has some new material after Clemson's humiliating 51-10 loss at the hands of LSU, so you would think he would use it as an opportunity to completely flatten Swinney, right?

Actually, no.

Yes, Finebaum did criticize Swinney following the defeat, which shouldn't surprise anyone. He said on the Matt Barrie Show that Clemson has now become a "second-tier program" in recent years and that he doesn't even think Swinney can salvage it.

However, Finebaum doesn't think the Tigers should fire the 56-year-old.

“When I say it’s over, I don’t mean Clemson should fire him. That is not what I’m talking about," Finebaum said. "Clemson’s administrators, 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 conditioning breaking in your new house, and then you go down to a trading lot and get an old air conditioner that’s already been broken down and think that’s going to fix it.”

Finebaum advised Swinney to "get out while you can" and try and head to another second-tier program.

“I’m telling you, Dabo – get out. Get out while you can," Finebaum said. "Get out before your program literally goes down in utter flames. Because on the big stage, which you were on Saturday night, you failed. You can’t cut it there anymore.”

The fact that Finebaum is actually giving Swinney some grace is shocking considering how much the ESPN analyst has ripped the two-time national championship-winning coach over the years, and you also have to wonder if Finebaum is right.

There is no question that Swinney was once one of the best coaches in the country. Clemson was once the gold standard in college football, making it to four National Championship Games and winning two of them between 2015 and 2019.

Since then, though, the Tigers have slowly been descending, and if last year's 7-6 campaign wasn't bad enough, they lost to Lane Kiffin — arguably the most hated man in college football — by 41 points to open the 2026 campaign.

Clemson should still give Swinney some leeway because of everything he has accomplished, but at this point, his job may very well be on the line heading into the Tigers' Week 2 matchup against Georgia Southern.

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