There is no doubt that Dabo Swinney is the best coach in Clemson Tigers history, having won two national championships there. There’s also no doubt that he’s struggled to adjust to the NIL and transfer portal era.
Those struggles adjusting to the modern era showed up more than ever before in 2025. Clemson would finish 7-6, their worst since 2010, when Swinney was on the hot seat early in his tenure. Despite that, Swinney believes the Tigers are built for the long term.
“We’re not built for perfection, but absolutely we’re built to last,” Swinney told On3. “Ain’t nobody making excuses for last year. I mean, we fried it, and that’s nobody’s fault but mine, same as 2010 when we won six games. And you know what? It’s my job to fix it, and it doesn’t get any easier. I’m not saying we’re going to go win the championship this year. We’ll be better. You’ve got different challenges now, but we’ve got enough here at Clemson to compete with anybody.”
In reality, Clemson is not that far removed from a College Football Playoff appearance. They made the first one, which followed the 2024 regular season.
Still, Swinney hasn’t adapted much with the times. It’s been a major criticism, but things might be changing now. Per On3, Clemson did take 11 incoming transfers. That’s a massive number for the program, even if it’s not for the transfer portal era. It also matters that Swinney added the right players.
There’s room to be excited there, but there’s also room to be concerned with Clemson’s coaching staff. There, Tom Allen struggled in 2025 to transition to defensive coordinator. Being tied for 30th in scoring defense was good, but also not as good as the Tigers had hoped. In particular, 36 points to Syracuse, 35 to SMU, and 46 to Duke in conference losses were all ugly.
Then, at offensive coordinator, Swinney turns to old friend Chad Morris. The Clemson OC from 2011 to 2014, before struggling as head coach. He later ended up coaching in high school, but Swinney is returning to a familiar name, something he’s been criticized for in the past as well.
Worse than all of that, though, is that Clemson put nine players in the NFL Draft from last year’s team. That was on a team that struggled on the field. So, even with talent, something wasn’t clicking.
In other words, there’s still plenty of reason to be concerned about why Clemson may not be competing at the top of the ACC. At the same time, Swinney has proven himself as a head coach and should have earned some grace from his success.
Could Dabo Swinney be on the hot seat?
It’s never easy to transition from a program legend, and make no mistake, Dabo Swinney is a program legend for Clemson. That hasn’t stopped rumors from kicking up that he may be on the hot seat.
The idea, basically, is that if Swinney can’t right the ship, Clemson doesn’t want to slip from its perch atop the ACC. So, they could pull the trigger sooner rather than later.
“He’s got to get better, or Clemson’s going to have to do something,” said Andy Staples, a columnist for On3, this spring.
In other words, for all of Swinney’s success, it doesn’t matter. He’s on the hot seat because of the changing tides of college football.
That doesn’t stop Swinney from being confident. Going back to when he got poor grades as a coaching hire, he’s had confidence. In that regard, nothing has changed at all.
“Got a D-plus,” Swinney said. “Guess what? Seventeen years later, ain’t nothing changed. They’re still doubting me. That’s all right because I’ve lived with doubt my whole life.”
Swinney will continue to live with that doubt. On the field, he can answer everyone’s questions quickly as he opens the season on the road against LSU.
