Clemson coach Dabo Swinney: ‘I might get fired… I can’t say I’d blame him’ with Graham Neff looking on
Dabo Swinney has seen better days at Clemson. At 3-5, the longtime Tigers coach is in danger of losing postseason for the first time in his 17-year tenure After Saturday’s 46-45 loss to Duke. He made an embarrassing joke with Clemson athletic director Graham Neff in the presence In the midst of a season of frustration This appears to have reached a boiling point inside Memorial Stadium.
“I might get sent off today, because Graham’s sitting back there, so I don’t know, I can’t say I’d blame him,” Swinney said with a smirk during his press conference.
Asked to clarify his remark moments after his time on the stand had ended, Swinney appeared to continue the ‘shocks’ mantra looking ahead to Week 11. It was an arrogant move by Dabo in front of his boss, proving he already has a lot of power there.
“Shoot, we gotta win some games,” Swinney said. “I’m just worried about trying to beat Florida State.”
Besides discussing his job situation, Sweeney took aim at officials after Saturday’s loss, the first in program history when he scored 45 points. Sweeney was particularly upset about a penalty against his defense on a fourth-down play that gave Duke a chance to score and force overtime, which it eventually did.
The ACC responded by fined Clemson $10,000 and issued a public reprimand to Swinney, who stood by his comments Sunday.
He added: “There is a lot of accountability for coaches and a lot of accountability for players, but I don’t think there is much for referees.” He said. “There has to be some kind of ability to challenge a call like that. It was very frustrating. But, like I said last night, I don’t blame that for the loss.”
Regarding his future at Clemson, Swinney has been saying similar things Every season. After a road loss to Georgia Tech, he quipped that Clemson had enough decision-makers and deep-pocketed reinforcements to give it the boot if that was their design.
“If they want me gone, they’re tired of winning, they can send me on the road,” Swinney said.
In fact, Swinney knows he’s safe at Clemson given his long tenure with nine conference titles and two national championships as well as a $60 million buyout. Neff has long been in Swinney’s corner, even during the growing cries that the leader of Clemson’s football program isn’t accommodating. College football A new era of transfer portal impact and NIL driven offers in recruitment.
Swinney’s reluctance to add players out of the gate at several key positions has been magnified this season for the Tigers, who rank 11th in the ACC in rushing offense, have struggled to maintain their strength at the line of scrimmage and have failed to impress defensively due to depth issues and a lack of development with several first-round prospects under first-year coordinator Tom Allen.
It’s possible Clemson could make additional personnel changes this offseason, which would continue a recent trend under Swinney that hasn’t paid off much.
🏈Clemson’s final practice round
| date | trainer | Change (in/out/role) | Position/notes |
| January 12, 2023 | Brandon Streeter | Launched/removed | Offensive Coordinator and QBs – Released after the 2022 season |
| January 13, 2023 | Garrett Riley | hired | Offensive Coordinator and QBs – Recruited from TCU |
| November 30, 2023 | Thomas Austin | Leave it | Offensive Line Coach – Not returning for 2024 season |
| November 30, 2023 | Lemansky Hall | Leave it | Defensive Ends Coach – Not returning for 2024 |
| December 4, 2023 | Luke died | hired | Offensive Line Coach – Ole Miss HC, former UGA Assistant |
| December 4, 2023 | Chris Rumph | hired | Defensive Ends Coach – Signed from NFL (Chargers/Vikings) |
| January 6, 2025 | Wes Goodwin | Launched/removed | Defensive coordinator and running backs coach – fired after the 2024 season |
| January 14, 2025 | Tom Allen | hired | Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach – Recruited from Penn State (formerly Indiana HC) |
Swinney hasn’t won a playoff game at Clemson since losing in the national championship game to Joe Burrow and LSU to end the 2019 season. Despite 10 or more wins in the four seasons since then, the program’s decline has been evident when considering the level of expectations Swinney has helped meet.
What else did Swinney have to say about Clemson’s bad season?
After an early loss to Georgia Tech that dropped Clemson to 1-2, Swinney faced his first real questions in 2025 about the state of the franchise. There was no apology issued.
“Perspective matters,” Sweeney said as part of his answer. “If they want me gone, they’re tired of winning, they can send me on the road, ’cause that’s all we’ve done is win. So if they’re tired of winning…we’ve won the eighth league in the last 10 years. Isn’t that good? I’m just asking, ‘Is that good?'” I don’t know if that’s good or not, to win the league eight out of 10 years, to go to the playoffs seven out of 10 years, to go to four national championships, and win it twice.
…
“Hey, listen, if Clemson gets tired of winning, they can send me on my way, but I’m going to go somewhere else and coach,” Swinney added. “I’m not going to the beach. God, I’m 55 years old. I’ve still got a long way to go. You’re all going to have to deal with me for a while. I’ve got a long way to go. I’m just getting started. I’m good enough now to be a head coach. Now I’m thinking about it. So we’re going to be around for a while. Let’s hang in there.”
Clemson has lost six straight home games dating back to last season against Power Four competition and is 13-9 against the ACC since the start of the 2022 campaign. Unless the Tigers get super fired up over recent weeks and somehow manage to carve out a spot inside the Top 25, Clemson will finish the season unranked for the first time since 2010.