Dabo Swinney didn’t sugarcoat it. Clemson’s first three games have left the Tigers bruised, battered, and already staring at two heartbreaking losses. But the head coach isn’t ready to press panic.
“I mean, the first two games, good enough—17 points LSU, and that one gave up there. So you pass those two tests,” Swinney said. “But let’s give Georgia Tech credit. That quarterback was special. I knew going in, he was a special player, and he was special in the game.”
Offense Still Searching for Answers
While Swinney pointed to a defense that has held LSU to 17 and Troy to just seven, the bigger issue, he admitted, lies on the other side of the ball.
“Twenty-one points came off the offense,” he said bluntly. “We’ve got to score points. There’s one play on defense I could change and we win the game, but there’s about eight of those. We’ve got to get the offense rolling.”
The absence of a key weapon—“we hadn’t had Clear Mark, one of our best players”—hasn’t helped, but Swinney refused to use it as a crutch: “No excuses with that.”
Defensive Talent, But Not Dominance
Swinney reminded reporters of Clemson’s defensive rotations during the Tigers’ peak years—Shaq Lawson, Vic Beasley, Kevin Dodd, and Grady Jarrett among them—before admitting that same level of dominance hasn’t shown up yet.
“Defensively, I think we’re going to be fine. Tom’s done a great job, but there’s newness. Wasn’t good enough,” he said. “We’ve got to get off the field a little bit more. You can’t play every snap, so we’ve got to develop depth at critical positions.”
Perimeter Play a Major Concern
When asked what worried him most, Swinney didn’t hesitate: Clemson has been “too soft on the perimeter.”
“I don’t think we’ve set the edge well enough. We have not defeated some blocks well enough, gotten off some blocks. We’ve got to do a better job in space,” he said.
That’s why sophomore cornerback Braden Strozier earned more snaps against Georgia Tech. “Strother deserves to play. Honestly, he had a good camp, and I think the arrow’s up,” Swinney explained. “But Braden [Strozier] is a special talent. He’ll respond. We’ve just got to be better with our eyes and our discipline.”
One Play Away—But Still Two Losses Down
For all the frustration, Swinney believes Clemson’s problems are correctable.
“If we win both of those games, we still have the same problems. That’s the thing here—it just feels different,” he said. “We haven’t come close to playing our best football, and yet both games came down to the last play against good teams.”
His message was equal parts accountability and optimism: “We’ve got to clean up some techniques, fundamentals, eye discipline—on both sides. If we do, this team can still be what it’s capable of being.”