The Clemson Tigers had a chance to start turning their season around at home on Saturday, but squandered it.
They were down 24-7 in the first half to the Syracuse Orange before later losing by 13, 34-21. The loss dropped the Tigers to 1-3, which is their worst start to a season since 2004. It’s the worst start in the Dabo Swinney era.
This loss comes after Swinney was upset during his Tuesday press conference, telling the media that Clemson can “send me on my way” if they are tired of winning.
“If Clemson’s tired of winning, they can send me on my way,” Swinney said. “But I’m gonna go somewhere else and coach. I ain’t going to the beach. Hell, I’m 55. I’ve got a long way to go.”
Swinney has been the head coach at Clemson for the last 18 seasons and has compiled a 181-49 overall record. He has guided the program to two national titles and seven College Football Playoff berths, but those numbers aren’t going to increase this year.
He has a lot of work to do if he wants to turn the program’s season around.
College Football Writer Slams Dabo Swinney After Loss to Syracuse
Brad Crawford of CBS Sports ripped Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney following the program’s loss against Syracuse.
“No coach in college football is doing less with more than Dabo Swinney this season. Just a disaster in every sense of the word for a preseason top 5 team with a couple early-rounders,” Crawford tweeted.
This was a Clemson team that had sky-high expectations heading into the season and won’t come close to meeting them. Numerous college football pundits had Swinney’s program winning the ACC and making a deep run in the CFP.
Clemson won the ACC last year after beating SMU in the ACC Championship Game, but lost by 14 against Texas in the first round of the CFP.
Concerning Stat Regarding Clemson Football Emerges on Saturday
According to Matt Connolly of PennLive.com, Clemson’s loss against Syracuse on Saturday was the program’s fourth-straight loss to a Power Four school. Clemson has also lost six of its last nine games to Power Four schools.
This is very unlike Clemson under Swinney, and a sign that something could be wrong with the program.
It’s up to Swinney to figure it out, or else the school could decide to part ways with him after the 2025 season ends. He has a $60 million buyout this year.
Next up for the Tigers is a date with the North Carolina Tar Heels on October 4. It will be a battle between Swinney and Bill Belichick, the latter of whom has also disappointed this year. The Tar Heels are only 2-2 through four games after losing to the UCF Knights on Saturday.
A kickoff time for the Tigers-Tar Heels game hasn’t been announced yet.