Dabo Swinney Goes on Epic Rant Against Critics Amid Clemson's 1-2 Start

The coach pushed back on the chatter regarding his program for roughly seven uninterrupted minutes on Tuesday.

Swinney's comments came during a Tuesday press conference. / Clemson / YouTube

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney isn't worrying about what the critics have to say about the Tigers' lackluster start to the season.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Swinney went on a passionate and lengthy monologue against any haters and their critiques, which he believes are nonissues when analyzed against the program's record of winning.

Asked specifically if the criticism out there is getting to him, the coach began his sermon by saying he is aware of the chatter, but it does not affect him directly because "I don't read it. ... When it's bad, I don't read nothing." He noted that the commentary is "warranted, because people care and I love being at a program that people care." But, "nobody wants to win more than we do."

Roughly four minutes later, he was still going.

"If they tired of winning, they can send me on their way because that's all we've done is win," Swinney went on. "We've won this league eight out of the last 10 years. Is that not good? I'm just asking, is that good? I don't know if that's good or not. To win your league eight out of 10 years? To go to the playoffs seven out of 10 years, be in four national championships, win it twice? Yeah, we're a little down right now. Take your shots. But I got a long memory, in case y'all don't know. We'll be alright. We'll bounce back. ... And I would just say, if you don't believe in us because we've lost two games, you didn't believe in us, anyway. So it don't matter."

Then: “I mean, if Clemson's tired of winning, they can send me on my way, but I'm gonna go somewhere else and coach. I ain't going to the beach. Hell, I'm 55. I got a long way to go. Y'all gonna have to deal with me for a while. I got a long way to go. I'm just getting going. I'm just now good enough to be a head coach. I'm just now figuring it out. So, we'll be around a while."

He was still talking after that, but we'll spare you the transcription and just let you watch it yourself (if you have the time), starting below at 29:00. All in all, the coach's answer to that initial question lasted roughly seven full minutes, with only one interjection regarding his age. Classic Dabo.

Clemson's only win so far came vs. Troy on Sept. 6; otherwise, they lost in the last second vs. Georgia Tech on Saturday, and during the opener vs. LSU on Aug. 30.

They'll get another chance to turn things around this weekend, when they go up against Syracuse (2-1) at 12 p.m. ET. But clearly, Swinney's not too pressed either way.

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