Dabo Swinney may not be on the hot seat, yet, but Clemson fans are very quickly growing tired of their college football coach. He proved that he has lost his touch against Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Win, lose or otherwise, the 55-year-old is not good at coaching anymore.
Swinney needs to get up to speed with the modern era of college football or the game is going to pass him by. We might already be there already…
What have you done for me lately?
Dabo Swinney is the greatest coach in school history. His nine ACC championships and two national titles speak for themselves.
However, Clemson has not reached the national championship since 2019, missed out on the College Football Playoff in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and lost in the first round last season to finish with four losses.
Wins and losses are one thing. Most programs would be thrilled to finish the regular season at 9-3 and to win a conference championship. The Tigers had a good year on paper.
While that may be true, there were a lot of slow starts, frustrating errors and underwhelming performances along the way. Even the loss to Texas looks better on paper than it was in real life because of a strong second half.
To make matters worse, Clemson lost to LSU in its season-opener and trailed Troy by 13 at halftime last weekend. It has been a rough start to 2025.
Swinney needs to figure it out. His job could be in danger if he doesn’t.
Dabo Swinney lost his touch.
Clemson got out to yet another slow start against Georgia Tech on Saturday. It was super awkward when Dabo Swinney said live on television that his defense needed a stop while it gave up a touchdown.
— Mr. Salmons (@MrSalmons) September 13, 2025
Here’s the thing.
I am not here to talk about a win or a loss. I am here to talk about one specific decision.
The Tigers drove 44 yards on 10 plays in four minutes and 10 seconds on their second possession of the game. They faced 4th-and-3 from the Yellow Jackets’ 35-yard-line.
In this current era of college football, it was the better decision for Clemson to go for it on fourth down. We all know about college kickers. The analytics agree.
Swinney initially sent out his kicker, Nolan Hauser, to attempt a 52-yard field goal but he called a timeout to talk it over. Upon further deliberation, Swinney decided to send his kicker right back out there.
Hauser missed. No good!
This kind of thing is what will get Dabo Swinney fired. Much like his hesitance to recruit the transfer portal, an inability to adapt to the new era of college football is going to be his downfall.
He effectively iced his own kicker for a field goal during the first half when the kicker shouldn’t’ve been out there in the first place. All of the Tigers’ problems are self-imposed. That starts with the head coach.