Chad Morris made comments this week about the lack of energy in Clemson's "Death Valley" in his second stint with the Tigers. The fans certainly brought that energy on Saturday against North Carolina, but the only issue is that the team's performance has the fans united against the product the team is putting on the field.
Clemson heads into the locker room trailing North Carolina by 11 points, and the fanbase is fed up with this team. The Tigers are struggling to stop North Carolina's rushing attack, while the offense can't get anything going. Dabo Swinney appears to be on track for a 1-2 start to the season, and conversations about his job security are only getting louder.
The lone bright spot for Clemson came at the end of the 1st half when the offense finally put together a solid drive before the Tigers had to settle for 3 on 4th and goal, leading to the fans booing the team into the locker room.
How much is Dabo Swinney's buyout?
As Clemson continues to slide further away from the standard Dabo Swinney set for this program, uncomfortable conversations around Dabo Swinney are going to continue. It's clear that Swinney doesn't have a handle on this new era of college football, and while he's accomplished a ton, Clemson may not be able to afford keeping him around.
Dabo Swinney signed a massive 10-year, $115 million extension in September of 2022, which will make it hard for Clemson to ever fire him. If Clemson were to fire Dabo Swinney during or after the 2026 season, they would owe him roughly $57 million, but the issue is that number won't get lower for the rest of his current contract.
Given how much money teams are already pouring into their rosters, it's hard to imagine a program willingly taking on a $57 million buyout before also paying for a new coach and bringing in new players. That could quickly turn into a massive bill. LSU and Penn State both paid significant buyouts to move on from Brian Kelly and James Franklin, but that level of spending isn't necessarily the norm in this new era of college football. Schools like Florida State have held onto coaches longer than expected, with the cost of making a change simply becoming too difficult to justify.
The best path forward for Clemson would be trying to find a way to mutually part ways with Dabo Swinney. He's accomplished so much for the program that he's impossible to fire, but he's also clearly not built for this new era. Dabo Swinney has accomplished a ton, and the fanbase will forever be grateful, but at some point these bad seasons may overshadow the heights he once reached.
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