Cam Newton Breaks Down Why Dabo Swinney and Clemson are Falling Behind

This past Wednesday on 4th&1 with Cam Newton, the former NFL MVP and his co-host Omar 'Peggy' Collins turned their attention to the Clemson Tigers' struggles to start 2025 under Dabo Swinney.

Once the face of consistency in College Football, Swinney is now being questioned for his lack of activity in the transfer portal and NIL era, in contrast to other coaches. Newton opened the conversation by pointing out what he sees as Swinney's biggest flaw: living in the past.

"It seems like we got an individual staying in the past, and [Dabo], times have most definitely changed," Newton said. "It's a combination of stubbornness, roster challenges and how the College Football landscape has changed."

From there, Newton shifted the conversation toward a coach on the opposite end of the spectrum, Syracuse's Fran Brown. Last week, the two head coaches faced off in Clemson, with the Orange coming out on top in a dominant, 34-21, victory.

Through two seasons, Brown has quickly built a reputation for connecting with players and adapting to the realities of modern College Football.

Newton highlighted how Brown's personality and approach resonate with today's athletes in a way that contrasts sharply with Swinney's more traditional philosophy.

"[Fran] has a lot of relatability," the Carolina Panthers legend explained. "He has this OG, around the block type of tone that a lot of players can relate to, that's why in order for coaches to stay at the cutting edge of success in College Football now, you have to be able to recruit – NIL and transfer portal."

"You have one coach who is relatable to the players. Then you have another coach that lives off this principle of saying we're going to develop from within. But doing so limits your innovation and strictens fresh ideas. [Fran Brown], on the other hand, is the culture. He's using words that the kids can relate to. He's holding his team to this thing and this thing only, buy in. He speaks about how important discipline is, and that's what he's leading with."

That comparison quickly turned toward roster construction, where the gap between the two coaches is most apparent.

Over this past offseason, Syracuse and Brown acquired double-digit transfers and have adapted well to the new scene of College Football.

Clemson, meanwhile, has remained one of the least active Power Four programs in the portal, with Swinney adding only three transfers: Will Heldt (Purdue), Jeremiah Alexander (Alabama) and Tristan Smith (Southeast Missouri State).

However, to Newton, it isn't the fact that he's not adapting; it's more about the principle Swinney laid in his foundation at Clemson and how he can't keep going back and forth.

"Dabo has between three to four transfers on Clemson's roster that he's dabbled with," Peggy Collins added. "But, Fran has 16 transfers."

"See the thing now that I want to compare back to Dabo Swinney real quick is the thing that he's hung his hat on the most is 'Hey we're going to build from within.' When making a decision as a grown adult, you have to live with it or die with it."

While Swinney's focus on developing players from within has been a hallmark of his tenure, Newton argued that the bigger issue isn't a lack of coaching skill; it's the pace of change in College Football.

Between the rise of the transfer portal, NIL opportunities and shifting player expectations, programs that fail to adapt quickly can struggle, as we've seen multiple times since the introduction of our current era.

"Dabo Swinney is not failing because he forgot how to coach," Newton finished. "He's failing because he hasn't adapted as fast as the game around him has."