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Remember when Clemson football was the talk of the sport after winning two national titles in two years (2016, 2018)? Remember when Dabo Swinney was winning Coach of the Year awards? Well, it seems like that has now been easily forgotten after the Tigers suffered their third loss of the season on Saturday against Miami (FL) football.
Clemson football's loss to the Miami Hurricanes spotlights major issues with the program
Clemson barely entered Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens as the favorite this past weekend to face the Hurricanes football team. While this might have surprised some, it wasn't unexpected to others. Most thought that the Tigers would be facing a Miami football team down on its luck and ready to call it a season after a humiliating loss to Georgia Tech two weeks prior and a near-pummeling by North Carolina the following week. However, the Hurricanes proved they were the better team — even with a true freshman back-up quarterback — beating the Tigers 28-20 in two overtimes.
What puts the spotlight on this upset loss to Miami, though, is Dabo Swinney himself. The longtime Clemson head coach has done himself no favors in the last couple of seasons with some of his responses to the media, especially those regarding this season.
Leading up to the game against the Miami Hurricanes, Swinney clapped back at his own Clemson football fan base, saying, “…maybe we need to lose a few games and lighten up the bandwagon. Sometimes the bandwagon can get a little too full.”
You often don't see too many head coaches call out their own fan base like that, even if it is in jest, as Swinney tried to explain later in the week.
“Our fans are awesome. I mean, 98.5 percent of our fans are amazing […] Literally, 98.5 percent (of our fans) are amazing. But we got 1.5 percent that are with you win or win,” Swinney said.
It then seemed all but certain that Swinney would have some sort of asinine comment in the postgame interview after the loss to Miami, and he didn't disappoint.
Where is Clemson's offense?
The final play of the game had Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik fake a handoff inside the one-yard line, where Miami linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. tackled him eight yards back to end the game.
“No, it was a handoff, 100%, and we didn't hand it off,” Swinney told 247Sports after the game regarding his quarterback's actions. “[Klubnik] just pulled it. I've got no answer. I mean, he was just trying to do too much.”
It's not so much that Swinney put his quarterback on the spot like this; it's that the concerning and inept state of this offense makes Swinney's comments look even worse. Why was Klubnik not disciplined enough to hand the ball to running back Will Shipley in this situation? Sure, Klubnik deserves some blame, but the onus still rests on Swinney himself.
The offense has become a glaring problem over the last two seasons for Clemson football, where it used to be one of the team's biggest strengths. It's the reason talented quarterback DJ Uiagalelei transferred to Oregon State after last season, citing that the offense was “basic,” per Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.
That's why Swinney brought in the highly sought-after offensive coordinator Garrett Riley from TCU, who had one of the best offenses in the country last season. But so far, the results have been less than stellar. Just against Miami on Saturday, the Tigers ran for only 31 total yards, averaging 0.9 yards per carry. They're ranked 44th in the country in total offense.
So, what is this Clemson football team now?
Clemson football reflects its head coach, Dabo Swinney. It's a team that refuses to embrace the current era of things like name, image, and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal. It appears thin-skinned and responds every time something negative is said about them. Swinney's choices are something he will have to live with, but the question is how much longer the University of Clemson can live with it.
Swinney's approach has always been about building a foundation, methodically putting the pieces together. It took Swinney seven seasons into his head coaching tenure before Clemson football played for the national championship and won another two years later. The team consistently played in the College Football Playoff. However, in the last two seasons, Clemson has been left out of the playoff and lost three games each season.
Clemson already has three losses this season, and they are all ACC conference losses, with two of those games going into overtime. They still have games ahead against teams like No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 17 North Carolina, and rival South Carolina, along with others such as next week's game against NC State and Georgia Tech two weeks after. It's uncertain what this team will look like by season's end.
The Clemson football dynasty appears to be over because of Dabo Swinney
Swinney's dynasty is over,” said Paul Finebaum. “It has been over for a while. The concern now is whether he can ever get it back to an elite level. There have to be some doubts. There are many reasons for it, and most of them relate to Dabo Swinney's decisions when he looks in the mirror at night.”
Finebaum is right. It starts with Swinney taking a long, hard look in the mirror, moving past himself, and realizing that, as good as his methods were in building a powerhouse program before, his methods now are antiquated and tearing it down. This is Dabo Swinney's program through and through, but if he can't see that the world is quickly changing around him, then it may not be much longer. If Clemson continues to decline and Swinney and the Tigers lose three or more games this season and next, a dynasty is the least of the head coach's worries.
