Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney isn’t running from the blame being pointed in his direction following the Tigers’ 1-3 start to what had begun as a promising season.
It all came crashing down with a 17-10 loss to LSU in a season opener the Tigers let slip away, followed by a loss at Georgia Tech and a 34-21 beatdown, at home, by Syracuse.
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Swinney addressed the team’s struggles at his Tuesday press conference and said that Clemson‘s woes this season were a “coaching failure.”
“We are what we are, but from a big picture standpoint, I mean, it’s just been a coaching failure, honestly,” Swinney said. “That’s the best way I can say it. We have just failed as coaches.”
Swinney added that he wasn’t taking accountability away from the players, making sure to mention that they were all paid to play in today’s game through NIL, but he kept the blame for the Tigers’ ugly start on himself.
“They’ve got accountability in this, too. You’ve got some guys that have got to play better. They’re not just on scholarship anymore. Some of these guys are paid a lot of money to perform. Everybody’s got accountability. But it’s just an absolute coaching failure. I don’t know any other way to say it.
“And I’m not pointing the finger, I’m pointing the thumb. It starts with me because I hire everybody, and I empower everybody and equip everybody, and when players don’t play to their potential, to me that’s on coaches. That’s on us.”
Swinney went on to say that Clemson, as a program, is great and has “never been better.” That hasn’t translated into on-field success this season, though.
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Cade Klubnik, who came into the year considered by many as the top quarterback in the nation, was held to 230 yards or less for three weeks until throwing for 363 in the loss to Syracuse, which saw him put the ball in the air 60 times.
Highly touted defensive linemen T.J. Parker and Peter Woods, both projected early first-round NFL Draft picks when the season started, have also underperformed.
Swinney repeated a familiar pattern of talking about the Tigers’ past accomplishments, which include nine 10-win seasons in 10 years, nine ACC championships and two national championships — though none of the latter since the dawn of NIL and the transfer portal.
“Your job as a coach is to get your guys to play to their potential, and we have failed in that,” Swinney said Tuesday. “It’s just that simple, and so that’s why we are where we are. We haven’t gotten it done as coaches and again, that starts with me.
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Swinney added that the Tigers’ struggles in 2025 were all “football stuff” unrelated to the health of the overall program.
“It’s blocking. It’s getting off blocks. It’s making the critical play at the critical time. It’s routine plays. It’s routine decision-making. It’s just that stuff, and all that stuff we can fix.”
Clemson will look to fix it this Saturday when the Tigers travel to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina (2-2) at Kenan Stadium. Kickoff is at noon ET. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Clemson football schedule 2025
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Aug. 30: vs. LSU (L, 17-10)
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Sept. 6: vs. Troy (W, 27-16)
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Sept. 13: at Georgia Tech (L, 24-21)
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Sept. 20: vs. Syracuse (L, 34-21)
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Oct. 4: at North Carolina, noon (ESPN)
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Oct. 11: at Boston College, 7:30 p.m., ACC Network
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Nov. 14: at Louisville, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
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Nov. 29: at South Carolina, noon, ABC or ESPN
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football start is ‘coaching failure,’ Dabo Swinney says
