Dabo Swinney voices support for Clemson football assistant coaches after USC loss
In the aftermath of a home loss to South Carolina that essentially eliminated his program from the College Football Playoff, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is going to bat for his offense — and the assistants in charge of running it.
Responding on Monday night to a fan who asked if the Tigers needed to make coaching changes after “two years without a passing game,” Swinney on his weekly call-in show issued a fiery vote of confidence for his staff while acknowledging Clemson’s “gotta get better in a lot of areas” heading into the ACC championship.
“All I can tell you is, I’m gonna do my job,” Swinney said, per ClemsonSports.com. “And if it comes a time where people don’t like how I do my job, then they can hire somebody else. But until then, I ain’t ever gonna make decisions based on what other people want me to do. I can tell you that.”
The Tigers are 10-2 (8-0 ACC) and playing for their seventh league title in eight years on Saturday night against North Carolina in Charlotte.
But they’re also coming off a shocking 31-30 loss to South Carolina in their regular-season finale, which snapped a 40-game home winning streak and all but confirmed Clemson would miss a second consecutive CFP after six straight appearances from 2015 to 2020.
Fans’ frustration with the offense reached a high point Saturday as quarterback DJ Uiagalelei had a career-worst 27.6% completion percentage and 60.7 passing efficiency rating and lingering issues — namely, a lack of production from wide receivers and a lack of touches for star running back Will Shipley in crunch time — re-emerged in a loss to the Gamecocks.
Swinney on Monday’s radio show said Uiagalelei will have “no room for error” but remains the starter against UNC ahead of true freshman backup quarterback Cade Klubnik.
“I’m never going to compromise what I think is right,” Swinney said, per Clemson247. “I don’t care what people say. I know what’s right and I’m going to do what’s right. He’s not done anything to not have the opportunity to lead this 10-2 Clemson team to a conference championship.”
Swinney also expressed his trust in offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter, wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham and the rest of his assistant coaches on Monday, refraining from directly naming anyone but saying his program had “a bunch of great people and great kids that work their butt off to create the consistency that is so rare.”
“I’m gonna keep doing my job,” Swinney said, per ClemsonSports. “And again, I’ve got bosses. And if they don’t like how I do my job then they can send me out to pasture. But I’m gonna show up every day and keep giving it everything I’ve got, every single day, as long as I’ve got breath in my body, and I’m going to surround myself with people that I believe in, because that’s what we’ve got here.”
Swinney expanded on Clemson’s recent passing game struggles in his weekly news conference Tuesday and said a lack of execution was the main issue plaguing receiver production. Clemson had 200-plus passing yards in each of its first seven games but has only hit that mark once, against a bowl-ineligible Miami team, in the five since.
“Up until (the Notre Dame loss) we were really doing a pretty good job,” Swinney said. “And then again, just a lack of production by a few people and then some injuries and some missed opportunities. So not where we need to be at all.”
Swinney trusted his gut with internal hires last offseason after longtime offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and defensive coordinator Brent Venables left for the head coaching jobs at Virginia and Oklahoma, respectively.
Swinney promoted former quarterbacks coach Streeter to offensive coordinator and former senior defensive assistant Wes Goodwin to defensive coordinator and said he didn’t interview any external candidates for either position, per ESPN.
Both units have been strong — especially during a 8-0 start that saw Clemson debut at No. 4 in the initial College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings — but have also shown their flaws, most notably in losses against Notre Dame and South Carolina.
Swinney on Monday said he appreciates Clemson’s success because “I know where we’ve come from.” The Tigers hadn’t won 10 games in a season since 1991 before Swinney did in 2011 — that streak of 10-win seasons is now up to 13 consecutive seasons and includes a 10-3 “down year” in 2021.
Only Nick Saban’s Alabama teams (15 straight from 2008 to 2022) and Bobby Bowden’s Florida State teams (14 straight from 1987 to 2000) have registered more.
Within that run, Clemson also has seven ACC championships, six CFP appearances, four national championship appearances and two national championships in 2016 and 2018 — something Swinney said fans of the programs shouldn’t lose sight of.
“Nobody’s got their head in the sand,” Swinney said Monday, per ClemsonSports. “We’ve gotta get better in a lot of areas. ... We know that. But if we wanna fire the head coach and fire the staff every year if we don’t make the playoff, then you’re going to have a new head coach here very often. And you’re gonna have a new staff here every year. Because that ain’t gonna happen a lot. There’s only four teams (in the CFP).”
2022 ACC football championship game
Who: Clemson (10-2, 8-0 ACC) vs. North Carolina (9-3, 6-2 ACC)
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bank of America Stadium
TV: ABC
Line: Clemson by 7.5
