Dabo Swinney fires back at 'doom and gloom' perception of Clemson program

Clemson hasn’t accomplished all of its goals this season as the Tigers have already dropped their season opener against Georgia and state championship game against South Carolina. Still, it has been a pretty good year for Dabo Swinney and his program, with a chance for it to get even better.

Clemson clinched a spot in the ACC Championship Game when Syracuse beat Miami this past Saturday. The Tigers are in the ACC title game for the second time in three seasons and for the eighth time in 10 years. They are also one win away from the College Football Playoff.

The perception of the Clemson program is that it has taken a drastic step back recently. However, Dabo Swinney pushed back against that notion during his press conference on Tuesday.

“I’m proud of the consistency. Uncommon consistency,” Dabo Swinney said. “This is our 10th time in this game in 16 years. I know we’re supposedly a bad program now and we’re doom and gloom. It’s all downhill and everything’s terrible. But I think we’ve been in this game two of the last three years. This is our eighth time in 10 years. And I don’t think we’ve gone back-to-back years not being in this game since 13-14.”

That is obviously incredibly consistent, and Clemson has without a doubt been the top program in the ACC for the past 10-plus years.

The Tigers reached the College Football Playoff six straight seasons from 2015-2020, winning a pair of national titles.

Clemson hasn’t been at that level the past few years, but the Tigers have still been pretty dang good.

“I know for all the things that have to change and how we’re supposed to be like everybody else, I’d say that’s pretty good. Eight times in 10 years,” Swinney said. “So really proud of that consistency. We’ve got two goals left, and that’s to win the ACC and win the closer. And if we hit those two goals, hey, we’ll be national champs. That’s a fact.”

Swinney believes Clemson has the roster to do just that, despite sitting at 9-3 as postseason play gets underway.

“Why not?” Swinney said. “It’s postseason. It’s postseason. We ain’t gotta go play 12 games. We’ve just gotta win a few of them. Let’s see what happens. We’re going to give it all we’ve got. I promise you that.”