The 2026 college football season is approaching, and several head coaches are looking to improve after last year. That includes Dabo Swinney, who is entering his 19th season with the Clemson Tigers.
Of course, his tenure with the team has been accompanied by a lot of success. Since taking over in 2008, he's gone 187-53 overall, 12-10 in bowl games and won two national championships.
However, 2025 was a major disappointment. The Tigers went into the year with national championship aspirations, but went just 7-6 and lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Swinney believes his past success makes up for that, though, telling The Athletic, "I don’t really feel like I gotta go win another national title to prove anything to anybody," according to David Ubben and Ralph D. Russo.
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Not everyone agrees with that perspective, though. In fact, during a Friday appearance on ESPN's "Get Up," college football analyst Paul Finebaum offered a harsh critique of Swinney's mindset.
“I am getting so, just exasperated, listening to Dabo tell us how great he used to be. They're not great anymore. You don’t hear [Tom] Brady talking about his Super Bowls or LeBron [James] or any of the greats. Dabo is just stuck on stupid right now, trying to convince us that his program is still legitimate; it’s not. It's slipping and sliding away. It's good; maybe they'll win nine games this year, maybe they won't, but they lost six games last year with the Heisman favorite. That is downright embarrassing."
Going into the season, there are expectations for Clemson to look more competitive. In fact, according to DraftKings, they have the fourth-best odds (+1400) of winning the ACC, behind the Miami Hurricanes (-136), SMU Mustangs (+700) and Louisville Cardinals (+800).
As the Tigers prepare for the upcoming season, Swinney will have the chance to respond to criticism surrounding his program. Clemson opens the year up with a challenge in Week 1, playing the LSU Tigers on Sept. 5.
