After latest loss, Dabo Swinney says 'I may get fired ... can't say I'd blame him' with Clemson AD looking on

Dabo Swinney has seen better days at Clemson. The Tigers' longtime coach is in danger of missing the postseason for the first time in his 17-year tenure following Saturday's 46-45 loss to Duke. And he misfired on an awkward joke with Clemson athletic director Graham Neff in attendance amid a season of frustration that seemingly hit a boiling point inside Memorial Stadium.

"I may get fired today, Graham's sitting there in the back, so I don't know, can't say I'd blame him," Swinney said with a smirk during his press conference.

Asked to clarify his remark moments after his time at the podium ended, Swinney seemed to continue his "aww shucks" mantra looking ahead to Week 11. It was an arrogant move by Dabo in front of his boss, proving he already has too much power there.

"Shoot, we've got to win some games," Swinney said. "I'm just worried about trying to beat Florida State."

Clearly bothered by recent failures, Swinney's been saying this kind of stuff all season. Following a road loss to Georgia Tech, he quipped that Clemson has enough decision-makers and deep-pocketed boosters to give him the boot if that's their determination.

"If they want me gone, they're tired of winning, they can send me on the way," Swinney said. 

In reality, Swinney knows he's safe at Clemson given his storied tenure with nine conference titles and two national championships along with a $60 million buyout. Neff has long been in Swinney's corner, even during increasing cries that the leader of Clemson's football program isn't adjusting to college football's new era of transfer portal influence and NIL-driven offers in recruiting.

Swinney's reluctance to add players from the portal in several key spots has been magnified this season for the Tigers, who rank 11th in the ACC in rushing offense, have struggled to maintain their strength at the line of scrimmage and have failed to impress defensively due to depth issues and lack of development with several potential first-rounders under first-year coordinator Tom Allen.

It's more than possible Clemson makes additional staff changes this offseason, which would continue a recent trend under Swinney that has not borne much fruit. 

🏈 Clemson's recent coaching carousel

Swinney has not won a playoff game at Clemson since losing in the national championship game to Joe Burrow and LSU to end the 2019 season. And despite four seasons of 10 or more wins since, program decline is obvious when considering the expectation level Swinney helped cultivate.

What else has Dabo said about Clemson's bad season?

After an early loss to Georgia Tech dropped Clemson to 1-2, Swinney faced his first real questions of 2025 about the state of the franchise. He did not sound a tone of apology.

"Perspective is important," Swinney said as part of his answer. "If they want me gone, they're tired of winning, they can send me on the way, because that's all we've done is win. So if they're tired of winning ... we've won this league eight out of the last 10 years. Is that not good? I'm just asking, 'Is that good?' I don't know if that's good or not, to win your league eight out of 10 years, to go to the playoff seven out of 10 years, to be in four national championships, win it twice.

...

"Hey, listen, if Clemson's tired of winning, they can send me on my way, but I'm going somewhere else to go somewhere else and coach," Swinney added. "I ain't going to the beach. Hell, I'm 55. I got a long way to go. Y'all going to have to deal with me for a while. I got a long way to go. I'm just getting going. I'm just now good enough to be a head coach. I'm just now figuring it out. So we'll be around a while. Let's hang in there."

Clemson lost six consecutive home games dating back to last season against Power Four competition and is 13-9 against ACC does since the start of the 2022 campaign. Unless the Tigers get red-hot over the final weeks and somehow manage a spot inside the final top 25, Clemson will finish the season unranked for the first time since 2010.