Clemson’s Dabo Swinney attacks caller for ‘appreciation’

“You’re part of the problem,” Sweeney told the caller, who introduced himself only as “Tyler in Spartanburg.” “Recognition, expectations are greater than recognition. That’s the problem. We’ve had 12 10-plus win seasons in a row. This has happened three times in 150 years. Clemson hasn’t smelled a national championship in 35 years. “We’ve won two in seven years. There are only two other teams that can say that: Georgia and Alabama.

“Is this a bad year? Yes, it’s my responsibility. Take responsibility for it 100 percent. But all this bullshit you’re thinking, all these novels you’re reading. Listen, man, you can have your opinion all you want, and you can apply for the job. And good luck to you.” “

Monday’s tirade was the latest — and most aggressive — response from Swinney amid mounting criticism of his handling of the Clemson program, which will miss the College Football Playoff for the third straight year after starting the season 4-4.

In an appearance on a radio show two weeks ago, Swinney lamented the “Clemson bandwagon” fans and suggested that some losses might help weed out bad fans who have lost their appreciation for the win. The Tigers then lost in overtime to Miami and, last week, by fall to NC State.

Swinney went on Monday to defend his salary, noting that when he was hired in 2009, he was among the lowest-paid coaches at a major program.

“I started out as the lowest paid coach in this business [and] “I did my best. I’m not going to let this smart kid get on the phone and tell me how to do my job,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney is in the second season of a 10-year, $115 million contract, making him among the highest-paid coaches in the country. In his first season at Clemson, in 2009, he earned $816,850. He was hired after serving as interim head coach and had no prior coordinator or head coaching experience. Since then he has won two national championships.

However, the 2023 season is Clemson’s third straight season that has failed to live up to high expectations among fans, with losses to Duke, Florida State, Miami and NC State — the team’s first four-loss ACC season since 2010 — and a tough one. game against visiting Notre Dame on Saturday.

Sweeney’s behavior after each defeat became progressively more frustrating, but he largely refrained from undermining his players or the coaching staff, opposing calls for coaching changes and criticizing individual players. Instead, Sweeney pretty much put off some consistent bad luck — especially when it came to turnovers — in each of the team’s losses.

However, fans have pointed out the dearth of talent on the roster as well as some very poor performances from the players. Swinney has been criticized the past few years for refusing to enter the transfer portal to add players to the roster as well as largely building his coaching staff out of former players and others with Clemson ties. He fired offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter after the 2022 season, when Clemson lost in the Orange Bowl, and hired Garrett Riley as his replacement. But Riley has largely struggled to inject much energy into the offense, and Clemson is averaging half a point less per drive in 2023 than it did last season.

Swinney has also received criticism in recent years for his stance against paying players’ salaries. He said in 2015 that if players were paid directly, he might simply quit and coach professionals. He has distanced himself from those comments in recent years, and Clemson has created one of the most ambitious Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) programs in the country.

However, Swinney returned to a similar approach on Monday, suggesting that if the school no longer felt he was doing a satisfactory job coaching the Tigers, he would go elsewhere.

“I work for the Board of Trustees, the President and the AD, and if they’re tired of me leading this program, all they have to do is let me know. I’ll go somewhere else where there’s appreciation.” Sweeney said, adding that he has 15 more years of coaching ahead of him. “I don’t know if he’ll be here, but he’ll be somewhere.”