Paul Finebaum still isn't a big Dabo Swinney fan.
The ESPN pundit has taken shots at the Clemson football head coach, and he's not backing down this summer. On last Friday's The Paul Finebaum Show, a caller opined that Clemson would never fire Swinney because of his $57 million buyout. That led Finebaum to wonder why the ACC program ever included that lofty figure in his deal.
"First of all, these buyouts are absurd," Finebaum said. " … What program has ever tried to hire Dabo Swinney? Why do you get that type of leverage at the back end of your contract? Dabo's never gotten an offer."
Finebaum compared Swinney's contract to the $10 million buyout in Kalen DeBoer's seven-year, $87.5 million extension he signed with Alabama earlier this year. The analyst claimed that the Crimson Tide never considered pursuing Swinney after Nick Saban retired.
"People can get upset about DeBoer, but the reason he got the contract is that they thought he might leave," Finebaum added. "Nobody wants Dabo Swinney. Alabama, his alma mater, could've easily called him. That didn't even enter their thought process."
War of words between Finebaum and Swinney
These aren't Finebaum's first critical comments of Swinney. He called the coach a "laughing stock" after the Tigers went 1-3 to start the 2025 season and suggested that his long tenure at Clemson was nearing an end.
In May, Finebaum claimed that one loyal caller was the only Swinney supporter remaining, saying he had no "faith or belief in Dabo Swinney anymore." He predicted an 8-4 record for Clemson in 2026.
Swinney pushed back recently, citing Finebaum as he reflected on proving his doubters wrong.
"When I got hired (in 2009) and I said, 'Hey, we’re going to win the national championship,' everybody laughed at me," Swinney told On3 in early June. "I'm sure they're laughing now. But, again, it ain't about what everybody says about you. It ain't about what ESPN thinketh. It ain't about what Paul Finebaum sayeth. It's about what you see. A lot of people have always seen me as a (D-plus), but it’s about what we see. It's about how we think. That's the only thing that ever matters."
Finebaum responded with his own barb to AL.com's Mark Heim.
"If Dabo won a national championship every time he said something stupid, he would be tied with Nick Saban," Finebaum said three weeks ago. "Unfortunately, his relevance in the sport continues to dissipate with each new season."
