Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney must be on the Syracuse payroll, as he is still praising the Orange after last weekend's upset.

Cameras caught the coach praising Syracuse counterpart Dino Babers after the game. Now the Clemson leader is out here (somewhat randomly) still praising the Orange.

“We got our butts kicked, and we deserved it, and we earned it,” Dabo Swinney said in a conference call. “Let's just compliment Syracuse. There ain't no excuses. They had the same opportunity as we did. They just outcoached us and outplayed us, and they earned it, and we earned our butt-whooping. There's no excuses.”

Swinney apparently visited the Syracuse locker room after the game to visit with Babers.

“First of all, it's a very unique setup at Syracuse,” Swinney said. “Our locker rooms are right beside each other in the same hallway. You could hear 'em celebrating. I wanted Dino to know, ‘Listen, this ain't about Clemson, this is about you guys.'

“I'm happy for him. He's trying to build a program. I have a lot of respect for him. They flat-out outplayed us, and I didn't want it to be, ‘Well, Clemson didn't play well.' They frickin' whipped our butts and outcoached us. That should be the story, nothing else. It was just right there. It wasn't that big a deal.”

Listen, this all seems very awesome and nice. It truly does. But the cynic in me, that jaded jerk residing in the depths of my belly, wants to make this about something else.

“Is Dabo too nice for college football?”

I. Am. Kidding.