"It's over" for Dabo Swinney at Clemson, Paul Finebaum warns

Dabo Swinney's best days at Clemson are behind him, and it's time to look for something new, Paul Finebaum has said after the team's 1-3 start.

It's time for Dabo Swinney to find a new team, Paul Finebaum has said after Clemson's surprising 1-3 start. | Ken Ruinard / staff via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Clemson is 1-3 for the first time in Dabo Swinney’s long and accomplished tenure as head coach, and a lot of the talk is now around when, not if, he’ll leave the school.

Paul Finebaum put the issue simply when surveying the damage after Clemson’s surprise loss at home to Syracuse over the weekend.

“I think it’s over at Clemson. Let’s quit trying to sugarcoat it. Sometimes it’s very difficult to get it back when you’ve lost it. He lost it, he got it back, now he’s lost it again, and he’s lost it badly,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s The Matt Barrie Show.

Clemson entered the 2025 college football season as the betting favorite to repeat as the ACC champion and finish a sure thing to qualify for the College Football Playoff.

That hope centered around the return of quarterback Cade Klubnik coming off a career-best passing campaign, an experienced offensive line, and a talented defensive rotation under the leadership of new coordinator Tom Allen.

But the result on the field has been a mess, from a close loss at home to LSU, trailing Troy by 16 points before making a comeback, dropping a three-point game at Georgia Tech, and then coming out the wrong end of a result at home to Syracuse.

Where does Clemson go next? Financially speaking, a divorce from Swinney would be an extremely expensive proposition, so a termination is likely out of the question.

“My advice to Dabo, and I know he doesn’t like taking advice from people like me, is to get out of there,” Finebaum said when considering Swinney’s options.

“Be quiet. Quit talking. He has no credibility now with his fan base. I mean, they’ve heard the whines before. He’s become a meme. He’s become, for a really good coach -- and I do believe he’s a really good coach -- he’s become somewhat of a laughingstock every time he opens his mouth.”

Dabo has two options, Finebaum believes.

“It’s either: consider another school, and I think he is hireable if he quits talking, or just get away from football and become a TV guy,” he said.

Swinney has passionately defended his future potential as a coach recently, noting that at just 55 some of his best work is still ahead of him.

But Finebaum believes he would be good in front of a camera.

“He’s very funny. He’s very clever. He’s got more credentials than any other non-TV coach out there. And what I mean by that is Saban has already got a job. I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about the people that can leave coaching and go into TV, he would be very coveted,” he said.

Whatever happens, Finebaum thinks Swinney’s time at Clemson is just about over.

“It’s time for him to go.”

(Finebaum)

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