Dabo Swinney glad for officiating to have accountability

Everybody makes mistakes in life. And Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is well aware of that. That’s why he is thankful of the process of officials discussing certain calls in post-game reports. And he discussed the issue at length in his press conference this week.

Swinney on accountability for officials in the ACC

“Well, you get accountability. You know, listen. Refs are people, too. None of us are perfect. We’re all human. We all make mistakes. Sometimes we can all see things in the moment and you think you’re dead right. And you look at it. You were wrong. I think the biggest thing is you just wanna have accountability,” Swinney explained.

“Yeah, it sucks. It does. It’s just bad when it costs you a game or critical…We’ve had plays go for us and against us. You know. I think the biggest thing with how [Alberto] Riveron, our head of officials tries to do. I mean, he holds the refs accountable. Just like we hold our team accountable. He grades the refs. We grade our players. We have a winning performance. And then based on how you’re playing you either continue to play or you don’t. You know. And somebody else gets an opportunity. Same thing with the officials,” Swinney continued.

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt. And maybe it cost you a game. But at least you know that there is a layer of accountability for those guys. And they want to get it right. They want to grade well. They all have pride in their performance, too. And at the end of the year, they evaluate. And some of them guys don’t get invited back. And others get promoted. So, it’s a performance-based deal. Just like our game. So, I think that’s the main thing. Just confirmation and just recognizing that hey, you’re accountable. And also, you get feedback where you want to know why it’s not how you see it. And you want that feedback,” Swinney continued.

“And sometimes you get feedback that refs will give you that other coaches have provided. So, you know, it’s just a collaborative process to where everybody can get better,” Swinney explained.

Clemson will take on Virginia and former Tigers’ assistant coach, Tony Elliott, this Saturday. That one is slated to begin at noon. The game will be nationally televised on ACC Network.