Paul Finebaum Rips Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Says He's 'Lost Control of the Program'

The Clemson Tigers have been one of the biggest disappointments of the 2025 season thus far, as they enter Week 9 at 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC after their 35-24 loss to SMU last weekend.

Head coach Dabo Swinney and company have caught considerable slack and blame for the Tigers’ underwhelming performance, especially considering the high expectations that fans held for Clemson heading into the season.

ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum spoke on Clemson’s poor situation with Swinney and believes that, even though the Tigers made the College Football Playoff in 2024, signs of concern began to arise last season.

“The problem with Dabo Swinney is this is a continuum. What happened last year when he had a pretty average season but managed to sneak into the playoff by beating SMU on the final play of the game in the ACC championship was the outlier,” Finebaum said. “The tread lines have been there that he has really lost control of the program.”

Clemson finished the regular season at 9-3 last year, but two of those losses came out-of-conference, making the ACC Championship game essentially a playoff play-in game for the Tigers. They were leading the Mustangs 24-7 early in the third quarter, but SMU rallied in the second half to tie the game at 31-31 with 0:16 remaining in regulation.

Now-running back Adam Randall returned the following kickoff for 41 yards to the Clemson 45-yard line, ultimately setting up a successful 56-yard game-winning field goal to claim the title and punch Clemson’s ticket to the playoff.

Despite a relatively subpar 2024 season, Clemson fans thought a roster with as much talent as the Tigers’ could potentially make a run for the national championship.

However, they are far from it.

Finebaum reflected on the preseason hype that the Tigers had generated over the summer, but expresses his discontent with Swinney and believes Clemson may need to move on from him.

“Many people thought he had it back. A lot of people picked Clemson to win the title. He had (Cade) Klubnik, who was thought to be maybe the No. 1 draft choice, they lost that LSU game, it’s been straight downhill ever since,” Finebaum continued. “And I believe Dabo Swinney has gone to the well one too many times trying to convince his fanbase, ‘Hey, we’ve played for four national championships. I have two. I can still do it again.’

“There is nobody that believes Dabo Swinney is ever going to win a national championship again at Clemson,” Finebaum said. “This was his last shot. I, frankly, think it’s time for him to go.”

Finebaum made it clear that he’s not endorsing a coaching change, but calls out Swinney for his confidence in the program’s ability to get back on track.

“I’m not suggesting they fire him, but he needs to find an exit strategy because Dabo, your time is up. You are not going to turn it around. Stop trying to tell the people of that great university a bill of goods.”

The Tigers have certainly fallen short of the national title hopes, as they sit under .500 through seven games for the first time since 2008. Clemson finished 7-6 that season, capping off the 2008 campaign with a bowl loss to Maryland.

The difficulty to maintain this program will only build from here for Swinney and Clemson’s coaching staff. Tiger fans hold high expectations for a school that has won two national championships in the last decade, especially with the same coach.

In a new era of college athletics with NIL, revenue-sharing, and the transfer portal, which he is known to express dislike toward, Swinney will only face increasing pressure as his future at Clemson is firmly in jeopardy.