Dabo Swinney makes a bold statement that is unrealistic

The Clemson Tigers are the most disappointing team in the 2025 season so far within the Atlantic Coast Conference, and perhaps nationally, yet head coach Dabo Swinney isn’t throwing in the towel.

As the team’s head coach, he’s supposed to say that, and Swinney does have a track record of success, winning two national championships with Clemson.

On Tuesday, he stressed that his team, which is 1-3 overall and tied for last in the ACC standings for now, won’t give up.

September was a rough month for Clemson, which entered the 2025 campaign at No. 4 in the preseason Associated Press top 25 poll. The Tigers, which made the 12-team College Football Playoff a year ago, were also tabbed as the favorite to repeat as ACC champs in 2025, according to the league’s preseason media poll.

Yet as Clemson prepares to travel to the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday afternoon in Week 6, the Tigers are 0-2 in conference competition and their only win this season is a lackluster 27-16 home victory over Troy.

Still, Swinney says the 2025 campaign is far from over. 

“We got a long way to go,” Swinney said. “Why can’t we be the hottest team in America? Why not? There ain’t no quit. We’ve got a long way to go. We’re just getting to October.”

His last statement is correct. September is in the rear-view mirror, and it’s a fresh month, so to speak, for Clemson. The issue with Swinney’s comments is that the Tigers have provided no evidence in 2025 to show that they are good team, much less an elite one with a realistic shot at a national title.

Granted, Clemson fell to ranked foes LSU and Georgia Tech by a combined 10 points. However, Clemson also lost big, at home, to Syracuse, a team that is currently 3-2 overall and looked bad last Saturday in a blowout setback to Duke.

Clemson is capable of going on a run. The schedule isn’t easy, but it isn’t overly daunting, either. North Carolina, led by first-year head coach and NFL legend Bill Belichick, hasn’t been good this season.

The Tigers get SMU, Duke and No. 18 Florida State at home. Clemson must travel to Boston College, Louisville and in-state rival South Carolina.

Without question, there are winnable games in there for the Tigers, but being the “hottest team in America” is a stretch. Especially because entering Week 6, Clemson is dead last in the ACC in scoring at 19.8 points per game.

The Tigers have to take things one game at a time, and knocking off the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill would be a big boost to Clemson’s collective confidence level.