Swinney's 'May Get Fired' Joke Could Soon Become Reality for Clemson HC

With changes at Florida, Penn State, LSU and now Auburn headlining this year's opening coaching jobs, all eyes are now on the Clemson Tigers, which fell to 3-5 in 2025 after a 46-45 loss to Duke.

Head coach Dabo Swinney did himself no favors after the loss, comparing this year's situation to the Tigers' 6-7 season in 2010, his third year at the helm of the program, while cracking a poorly-timed joke.

"That was a really brutal year. Lost at home to South Carolina. Thought I was getting fired right here in this room," Swinney recalled. "May get fired today. Graham (Neff)'s sitting in the back. So, I don't know. Can't say I blame him."

Of note, athletic director Graham Neff usually does not attend postgame press conferences.

"I might get fired, today."

I followed up with @ClemsonFB Coach Dabo Swinney about his comments concerning his Tigers future. pic.twitter.com/t6M9YOtTe8
— Carmine Gemei (@CarmineGemei) November 1, 2025

Despite leading Clemson to a pair of national titles, multiple appearances in the College Football Playoff and multiple ACC titles, including one just a year ago, Swinney has been heavily criticized in his 17th season as the head coach.

Considered a strong contender to win a national title and a surefire top-five pick in the NFL Draft in quarterback Cade Klubnik, the Tigers have completely fallen short in 2025 with a 3-5 record with losses to LSU, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, SMU and Duke.

Saturday's loss may have been the most frustrating with Clemson erasing a 21-7 deficit only to lose on a Duke 2-point conversion with less than a minute left, which was set up by a controversial pass-interference call on the Tigers on a fourth-down play.

“I don't even know what to say about the last call," Swinney said in his press conference after the game. "I mean, it's, y'all saw it. It shouldn't come down to that. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game, but you know that that's one of the worst calls I've ever seen in a game, ever, in my entire coaching career. Ever.”

The Tigers also had multiple miscues defensively, giving up 439 total yards with 361 coming from the arm of Duke quarterback Darian Mensah.

“To win, you got to not lose,” he said after the game. “I mean, it’s just as simple as that. You have to not lose to Clemson in order to win. That’s where you start, and just we did some really dumb stuff that was 1000% on us.”

While the playoffs are out of the question, Clemson still has a winnable slate that would send them to a bowl game with 4-4 Florida State, No. 16 Louisville, Furman and 3-6 South Carolina all on the schedule.

However, as pressure mounts with multiple high-profile jobs opening around the country, Swinney's time in Clemson could soon be over should the performance on the field continue to underachieve.

Swinney signed a 10-year, $115 million extension in 2021. Should he be fired without cause before Dec. 1, Clemson would pay a buyout of $60 million.

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