Insider Provides Harsh Assessment of Clemson Tigers Football Program

One college football insider says that the Clemson Tigers, based on recent performances, have taken a huge step back under Dabo Swinney.

Aug 31, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney reacts after a call by an official a during the first quarter of the 2024 Aflac Kickoff Game against the Georgia Bulldogs Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. / Ken Ruinard - Imagn Images

Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has been a popular target of national college football reporters and analysts after the Tigers 34-3 season-opening loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.

That noise has not died down as Saturday’s hope opener with Appalachian State approaches.

But one insider — The Athletic’s Manny Navarro — had some of the harshest comments earlier this week during an appearance on Sirius XM radio, as transcribed by Clemson Sports Talk.

Navarro didn’t mince words about where he believes the Tigers’ football program is right now and where it’s headed.

Remember 2007? The analyst threw the state of the program back to those days and said the regression is on Swinney.

“I just think Dabo’s cut himself off from the reality that you need to be able to find proven players who can come in and replace somebody that you lose,” Navarro said. “I look at Clemson, and I think this is a program — they've taken a step back to what they were before Dabo got there. In my mind, that's what they are. They are the Clemson before Dabo got there.”

For the record, those 2007 Clemson Tigers were coached by Tommy Bowden, went 9-4 and finished in second in the ACC Atlantic Division.

Swinney was on that team’s staff as an assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. He joined the program in 2003. He took over as the interim coach in 2008 when Bowden was fired and took on the permanent job for the 2009 season.

It’s hard to argue with Swinney’s overall track record leading the program. He is 170-44, has guided the Tigers to two national championships, two other national championship games, eight ACC championships and 10 ACC Atlantic Division championships. He’s been named Bryant National Coach of the Year three times.  

Last year Clemson went 9-4 and missed the ACC title game for the second time in three years. Plus, the program’s streak of 12 seasons with at least 10 wins came to an end.  

Swinney has been adamant about the direction of his program and putting his faith in his program’s ability to recruit and develop talent. This offseason he was one four programs to not take in a single transfer from another school. The other three were the service academies — Air Force, Army and Navy.

Swinney doesn’t seem to have a problem being in that company. Navarro believes it means Swinney has to hit more often on prep players and development.

“You can't cut off a valve where you can add talent to your roster,” Navarro said. “There's just too much player movement across college football to say, ‘I'm just going to do it with high school recruits.’ You just can't because you have to bat like .500, .600, or .700 with high school recruiting to really be able to survive that way.”

Only time will tell if Swinney’s process works for the Tigers in this new world of college football.