Dabo Swinney shoulders complete blame for Clemson struggles

Clemson has been incredibly disappointing this season. The Tigers currently sit at 4-3 on the season after last week’s loss to Pittsburgh. After the loss last week, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney shouldered all of the blame for the disappointing season thus far.

“That’s kind of who we are right now,” Swinney said after Clemson’s loss to Pittsburgh last week. “We’re a 4-3 team, that’s who we are. It’s what we’ve earned and it’s incredibly disappointing. And I’m one thousand percent responsible. As simple as that, it’s a hundred percent on me. This team’s performance starts with me as the head coach. Period. Everybody hurts. This is a very painful and frustrating time.”

Swinney blames himself for Clemson not winning

While Clemson has dealt with a lot of injuries throughout the season, Swinney still blames himself for not putting his team in a better position to win. Swinney believes that Clemson still has enough healthy talent to win football games, so he has taken responsibility for not having his team ready.

“The team’s performance, I’m responsible for that,” Swinney said. “I got to somehow find a way to help them be more confident, make those plays that are there. I can’t really do anything about injuries. I mean it’s some of the craziest stuff that I’ve been a part of ever since I’ve been in college football. It’s just crazy some of the things we’ve dealt with. You got to just know that it’s all good in the long run. We’ve had so many unbelievable moments and years where nobody got hurt.

“This year, 17 guys unavailable. We got guys all over the place but I still think we have enough to win. We’re just young and immature and not very confident and not playing with any type of precision. And that’s my responsibility, to take what we have and go win. That’s my responsibility and I’ve done a poor job at that. I’ve got to find a way to get us better.”

Clemson has lost to Georgia, NC State, and Pittsburgh this season. The Tigers have wins against South Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Syracuse. Outside of the Week 2 victory over South Carolina State, Clemson has yet to score more than 21 points in a game. Clemson’s offensive struggles are something else that Swinney shoulders the blame for.

The Tigers take on Florida State at 3:30 p.m. ET. Clemson ends the year with games against Louisville, UConn, Wake Forest, and South Carolina.