Clemson Tigers football coach Dabo Swinney has a 1-3 program this season and lacks confidence that it can recover from the national media. Swinney is reminding analysts of the worst peer possible at this moment in time.
Swinney’s inability to adapt to the NIL era from the payless play before times, mainly his refusal to engage with the transfer portal, has some seeing the next Mike Gundy in Clemson, South Carolina.
CBS Sports’ John Talty believes there are more questions than answers in Death Valley, giving an uncomfortable feeling that, at some point, Swinney will suffer a similar fate to the fired Oklahoma State Cowboys football coach. Gundy was shockingly let go on Tuesday after speaking to his team like nothing was wrong on Monday.
“Is the coaching staff not good enough? Are the players not being properly prepared and developed ahead of gamedays? Is Swinney's message not resonating the way it once did?” Talty asked.
“These are all real questions Swinney needs to look in the mirror and try to answer about his downward program.
“If not, all he needs to do is look toward Stillwater to see what can happen to a once-beloved coach who stubbornly refused to change with the times.”
Swinney isn’t changing a thing about the team. A year removed from a 10-2 regular season, a 1-3 start ends their 2025/2026 College Football Playoff hopes, but it doesn’t mean the campaign is a lost cause. And it certainly doesn’t mean Swinney will be fired soon.
But Swinney isn’t guaranteed forever, just as Swinney wasn’t. Finish the season with a losing record, and start next season the same way, and the Gundy prophecy will be fulfilled.