Dabo Swinney on Clemson fans: ‘I love our fans. Again, 98.5 percent are amazing’
Like him or not, Dabo Swinney is the best head coach the Clemson football program has ever had.
The Tigers have experienced their most successful run ever with Swinney as the head coach, but there are still those who question the head coach after all these years. Swinney is no stranger to criticism, however, as it is bound to come when you’re in the game as long as he’s been.
“This is my twenty-first year here. I spent thirteen years at Alabama. I have heard criticism,” he said. “As long as I am doing this, I will continue to get criticism. I have been married going on 30 years, and I have heard plenty of criticism along the way. It is just kind of part of it. I know what is real and not real.”
Much of Swinney’s criticism over the past couple of seasons has revolved around expectations. When you’re a two-time National Championship-winning head coach with six College Football Playoff appearances, eight ACC Championships, and a 165-41 record, people will have high expectations for your team year after year.
Sometimes, people lose appreciation for what they have after seeing some of the highs this program has seen.
“Sometimes, you can win too much that you lose the appreciation for the blessing,” Swinney said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “It is just reality. It is hard to win. It is freaking hard to win, and to be a consistent winner is almost impossible. So, if there are people who do not understand that, then I cannot help them.”
As the Tigers’ longtime head coach, Dabo Swinney loves Clemson and Clemson fans. He is ingrained in this community, and we’ve seen the joy he’s brought many during his time with the program.
Still, Swinney knows there will always be fans that are more of a problem than a solution.
“I love our fans. Again, 98.5 percent are amazing,” he said. “But the other 1.5 percent, they create a lot of problems. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
“That is everywhere. You always have them. That is what social media does; it gives them a loud voice. There are always people that want to complain about something.”
Swinney and the Tigers have a strong opportunity to make Clemson fans happy as they face Miami on the road for an 8 p.m. kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami-Gardens, Fla.
