Dabo Swinney has freely given up the ACC, Clemson needs to look in the mirror

There was once a time when Clemson was the class of the ACC by a wide margin.

Under the leadership of Dabo Swinney, Clemson was consistenly winning ACC Championships and competing in College Football Playoffs. Honestly, during that run that saw the Tigers play in six-straight College Football Playoffs, win two National Titles, and compete in two more National Title games, Clemson was every bit as much the class of the nation as anyone, including Alabama.

How times have changed.

Dabo Swinney and Clemson came into the 2024 season hoping to turn things around after a disappointing 2023 season. Though things were off to a rough start with a blowout loss to Georgia to begin the year, the Tigers battled back and found themselves sitting at 6-1 heading into a bye week looking forward to making a run through November that could have them set up in the College Football Playoff. But, it was all a facade.

With two weeks to prepare for a night game in Death Valley against a three-loss Louisville, Clemson was thoroughly embarrassed. The Tigers lost to the Cardinals 33-21, and with it, almost all their hopes for a postseason run went out the door, as well.

Is there still a path for Clemson to get to the College Football Playoff? Sure. The Tigers could win out and then, if SMU were to lose to Virginia, they could potentially still get to Charlotte and play Miami for a chance at winning the ACC Championship and grabbing the automatic-qualifier for the conference. But, the odds of that happening are slim to none.

Honestly, there's a much more probable chance that Clemson loses multiple more games in November — with road trips to Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh incoming, and then South Carolina to close the season — than they somehow backdoor their way into the ACC Championship.

Regardless of what happens the rest of November, though, one thing is for sure: Dabo Swinney needs to take a long look in the mirror. He is still one of the best coaches in the country. His legacy will always be intact, regardless of what happens the rest of the way. But, Clemson has allowed the rest of the ACC to catch them. Was it solely with the Transfer Portal? No. Was it solely with NIL? No. Was it solely with any one thing? No. It's a mixture of several things.

If Clemson is going to rise back to prominence, the Tigers are going to have to start winning some of these recruiting battles they've lost the last couple of years. In addition, they're going to have to keep working on retaining their talent, while also acquiring talent that can make a difference, whether that's from high school recruiting or the Transfer Portal.

This isn't a post to talk about how Clemson needs to use the Transfer Portal. No, this is a post to say that Dabo Swinnney has to find his own way and turn that program around. There's money in Clemson. There's absolutely passion in Clemson. It's Dabo Swinney's job to find out what's lacking in his program and turn those things around.

Is it talent? Is it coaching? Is it development? Is it a mixture of all these things.

It's Swinney's job to find the answer there. But, one thing is for sure: The Clemson team we saw on Saturday night was an embarrassment. The effort was lacking. The urgency wasn't there, and they looked like a team defeated well before the game was even out of hand.

That's the bad news in Clemson right now. The good news? Dabo Swinney has won before, and anyone who wants to discount that or completely count him out may find that foolish. Only time will tell.

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