Dabo Swinney explains decision to no longer field fan calls during weekly coaches show

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney held his first weekly radio show of the 2024 season on Monday. Unlike years past, Swinney did not take calls from fans during the show.

Instead, Clemson fans could text in questions for Swinney through play-by-play announcer Don Munson, who hosts the weekly show. Dabo Swinney spoke at his press conference on Tuesday about the new format for his radio show.

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“It was good. It was good to get back going and some good questions,” Dabo Swinney said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to cover more topics and get more done and hopefully have more than two or three people that call in. Still love Becky. Shoutout to Becky. We still love her.”

“Becky from Gaffney” frequently called in to Swinney’s show to share her thoughts on the game from the previous week and oftentimes to complain about bubble screens.

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However, there was another caller who contributed to the decision to no longer take calls in “Tyler from Spartanburg.”

Tyler lashed out at Swinney last year, asking why he deserved his $11.5 million salary. Swinney said Tuesday that the phone call from Tyler did not directly lead to the decision to stop taking calls, but it certainly made the choise easier.

“That’s what people will assume and that was brought up and all this stuff, but actually internally they’ve been talking about it for a while to make a change to the format and look at what most other people were doing, being able to take more questions. Being able to talk more ball. Being able to not just have two or three people that you spend the evening talking to,” Dabo Swinney said. “But that certainly didn’t help the calls, that’s for sure. But it’s all good, man. Tyler’s a great Clemson man and always will be.”

The new Dabo Swinney radio show is called “Tiger Sports Hour with Dabo Swinney” and will be held every Tuesday from 8-9 p.m. throughout the season.

Swinney leaves the practice field and immediately comes to speak with Munson about his program and where things are. The two look back at the previous game and preview the week ahead during the radio show.

According to Jon Blau, about 150 fans sent in questions for Swinney on Tuesday through text. Of those, the Clemson head coach was able to answer a handful during the time slot.