Dabo Swinney unleashes on a caller who says he’s arrogant and questions the Clemson program
Dabo Swinney has been getting a lot of heat recently, and that heat came directly at him during his weekly radio call in show.
During the show, Swinney was asked why he is making the salary he does for a team as talented as Clemson to be 4-4 right now, while accusing him of being prideful and arrogant. Swinney, naturally went off on this caller. Below is a full look at the exchange.
Caller: “It sounds a lot like Tommy Bowden, and I will tell you one thing, Tommy Bowden didn’t make the same amount of money as you do. You make 11.5 million dollars a year. That is second in college football, if I am not mistaken. I am curious why that salary has led to 4-4. And I know we are going to talk about just being a couple of plays away from being undefeated and all of that. And I know you are a man of religion. I am a big fan. Coach, before you categorize me of being in the 15 percent, I have been going to Clemson games, and my entire family, going back generations. I have been going to Clemson games when you were in commercial real-estate. So I am not going to accept being in that 1.5 percent. I respect the fact that you are a man of faith. I’m curious if you have ever read Proverbs 16:18, which talks about pride coming before the fall. I was in the military, so I was able to see you for the big run. I couldn’t watch all of the games, but I always watched the press conference just for life advice and I appreciated all of that. Something changed after 2018. You were humble and hungry and everything, and I always told people, man, Dabo, just look at his press conferences. But after that 2018 national title, something changed. It seems to be lots of arrogance that came in, and there are a lot of friends and family. I mean 3 of the 10 on-field football coaches are external experienced hires. Everyone else was an internal hire that had no experience or was a former player or friend. So I am curious why are we paying you 11.5 million dollars to go 4-4, and it is not just this year.”
Swinney: “Hey Tyler, I’ve listened to enough of you, Tyler. You can have all your opinions that you want. I don’t know how old you are. I don’t really care. But let me tell you something – we won 11 games last year, and you’re part of the problem to be honest with you, because that is part of the problem. It’s people like you that the expectation is greater than the appreciation. And that’s the problem. So, we’ve (had) 12 10-plus-win seasons in a row. That’s happened three times in 150 years. So if you want to know why… Clemson ain’t sniffed a national championship for 35 years. We’ve won two in seven years, and there’s only two other teams that can say that – Georgia and Alabama, OK. Is this a bad year? Yeah, and it’s my responsibility. I take 100 percent responsibility for it. But all this bull crap you’re thinking and all these narratives you read – listen, man, you can have your opinion all you want, and you can apply for the job, and good luck to you.
“But to answer your question, we’re second in draft picks. We’ve graduated 98 percent of our guys. We’re second in wins, alright. If you want to know why, again, I’m telling ya, we’re not perfect. There’s a lot of teams. Frank Howard never had a bad year? Coach Ford never had a bad year? Coach K never had a bad year in basketball? People have a bad year. But part of the problem is the appreciation. I used to tell people all the time, they’d say, ‘what’s the difference in Clemson?’ Let me tell ya, at some places there’s an expectation, but at Clemson there’s an appreciation. And what’s happened at Clemson is we’ve won so much that even when we used to be ‘the fun’s in the winning,’ now, even when you win, people like you complain and criticize the coaches and question everything. People like you. When I hired Tony Elliott to be the offensive coordinator, who never called a play in his life, I’m sure you were critical then, and he took us to two national championships. People like you, who just love to destroy people with your comments, alright. I’m sure you’ve never made any bad decisions. I’m sure you’ve lived a perfect life. I’m sure you’ve led a bunch of people. I’m sure you do your job in front of…
“So to answer your question, I’ve started as the lowest-paid coach in this freakin’ business, and I’m where I am because I’ve worked my ass off every single day. And I ain’t going to let some smart-ass kid get on this phone and create this stuff. So, if you got a problem with that, I don’t care. I work for the board of trustees, the president and the AD, and if they’re tired of me leading this program, all they gotta do is let me know. I’l go somewhere else where there is an appreciation. It’s not just winning, it’s how you win. This is a tough year. But we’ve had 12 10-plus-win seasons in a row. 12. We lost to Tennessee last year, they won 11 games for the first time in like 20 years. We’ve had eight 11-win seasons in 11 years or whatever. We’ve won two national championships. Clemson went 35 years – probably since before you were born, your whole freakin’ life – and we’ve won two in seven years, and we earned it and we beat the best of the best to do it. The best of the best. 12 10-plus-win seasons.
“So if you want to know why, that’s why. Am I perfect? No. I’m far from it. And I am a man of faith, absolutely. I’m 53 years old, and there ain’t one thing in my life… I’ve been a part of failure many times. But there ain’t one thing in my life that I’ve ever failed at, Tyler. Never. I wanted to get an education. I got two degrees. I wanted to be the first college graduate in my family, I did it. I wanted to play football at Alabama. I earned a scholarship, lettered three years, worked my ass off, won a national championship. I wanted to get into coaching. I worked my way to being a head coach. And when I got this job – and I’m sure you didn’t want me to get this job – and 15 years later, I’m still here. The results are what they are, and I stand on them.
“So, you don’t ever have to call back. I wanted to get married. I’ve been married for going on 30 years. I wanted to be a father. I’ve raised three great sons. If you don’t like how I run the program, don’t be a fan. I don’t care. But I’m the head coach, and I’m going to do what I believe is right for the long term of this program, what’s best for the players and what I think’s best for the moment. If you’ve got a problem with that, that’s fine. But I’m not going to sit here and let you call. I don’t give a crap how much money I’m making. You ain’t going to talk to me like I’m 12 years old. You’ve got to be freakin’ kidding me.”
