In his regular Sunday night teleconference, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made it clear he is not backing down from his post-game criticism of the officiating.
When asked if the ACC had provided any comment on the controversial calls from the previous night, Swinney was terse.
"No. Other than that, just stand by what I said. I mean, it is what it is, you know. Mean, I think it's a... we just have to agree to disagree," Swinney stated.
Swinney's frustration stems from what he perceives as a lack of accountability for game officials, contrasting it with the immense pressure placed on coaches and players.
"There's a lot of accountability for coaches and a lot of accountability for players, but I don't think there's much for refs," he said. "There should be some type of, especially a call like that. I mean, there should be [the] type of ability to challenge a call like that. It just was very, very frustrating."
While he maintained the call was a turning point, he stopped short of blaming the loss entirely on the referees.
"But you know, again, as I said last night, I don't, I don't blame that on the loss," Swinney clarified. "I mean, that play could have won the game, and it would have been great for those guys who have overcome so much crap to win the game. But again, standby. Want to say that, agree to disagree. So they don't want us talking about refs, so just... call them and ask them about it."
When pressed on whether the conference should be more transparent about blown calls, Swinney deferred.
"Well, that's... I'll leave that up to them. They can run their shop however they run it," he said. "I know, in my first year... [they] suspended four refs after the Georgia Tech game that Thursday night and, you know? But that was a different era, different regime, you know. So I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna tell people how to run their shop, but, but I can have an opinion."
'Best Game of the Year' on Offense Wasted
The officiating controversy only added salt to the wound of what Swinney called a "tough pill to swallow." The loss overshadowed a massive breakthrough for the Clemson offense.
"Just hard to put into words, the disappointment," Swinney said. "Very frustrating, for sure, from just missed opportunity standpoint. I thought offensively, I mean, it's probably as good as we played in a long time. Really, really well played game."
The Tigers piled up 45 points, a mark that has historically guaranteed victory.
"You know, you score 45 points, ought to be enough to win," Swinney lamented. "I didn't know the stat of 134 and oh with 45 points. So it shows you how hard it is to do that, to lose a game that way."
The stats were eye-popping: "560 yards, 7.8 a play, 14.3 per completion. So very explosive."
Swinney gave special praise to his quarterback and running backs. "I thought Cade was awesome. 75% 385, yards. We needed to get the run game going, and we did. 4.9 a carry. You know, Adam was awesome. 5.6 a carry."
It was a complete performance, capped by a crucial statistic: "No turnovers was a big key for us."
Swinney also credited the supporting cast. "I thought our O-line, I thought our tight ends and our receivers really blocked... We were six of 13 on third and fourth down. Antonio Williams... Tristan, DJ, Tyler Brown... Ben gore and Olson were outstanding in the run game."
"Offensively, they played, by far best game of the year," he concluded. "Really proud of that."
'Big Play Busts' and 'Poor Execution' on Defense
But the story of Clemson's season has been a failure to align its strengths.
"But the flip side, I mean, again, we've not played complementary football year," Swinney said. "We just haven't been able to put it together all together all year... But defensively, just not much good."
The defense, once the team's strength, has become a liability defined by catastrophic breakdowns.
"I feel like it's back to back games. We've lost... with just a bunch of big play bus and poor awareness," Swinney said, clearly exasperated. "Just, just really disappointing, especially in the pass game... The most frustrating part of all of it was the bus, the big plays given up... 10 plays, 294, yards. It's just hard to win."
Swinney detailed the mental errors. "Whether it was the corner cat and we don't have a guy over the top, or it was two invert, we don't... we're not inside where we need to be... We play two robber and nobody cares [about the] tight end... Just poor execution across the board."
When asked to evaluate the safety play specifically, Swinney didn't mince words. "Yeah, I hadn't been good enough... We had busted every single position yesterday. We had busted the end, the tackle, linebacker, corner, nickel, safety."
The defensive failures also led to a visible sideline argument between defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin and safeties coach Mickey Conn. Swinney downplayed the incident.
"Just in game stuff, man," Swinney said. "I mean, you give up a 77-yard touchdown on a bust. I mean, it's frustrating. So that's just... that's football... highly competitive environment."
Accountability and the Path Forward
Ultimately, Swinney directed all blame to the top. When asked how much responsibility falls on players versus coaches for repeated busts, the head coach was adamant.
"It's all on coaching. It's all on me. It's my responsibility," he said. "Me. I haven't gotten it done this year. It's all on me."
He also stood by his embattled defensive coordinator. "I think Tom's [Goodwin] done it. I think I really do, and I think he... he's a winner... it just hadn't worked. It hadn't come together like we hoped. Again, that's nobody's fault, but mine."
Despite the "frustrating time," Swinney is looking to the past as a blueprint for the future, referencing his 6-7 season in 2010.
"I know it's been again, a tough year. Something good will come from [it]," Swinney said. "Haven't had a season like a losing season [since] 2010. [A] 14-great-years sprung out of that, 11 championships, and something's going to come from this season as well."
"We've got the ingredients, but we just can't seem to put them all together... Tough times make, you know, to make tough people and tough people make tough teams. So we'll hopefully be better because of it... But right now, we're in the fight, and we got to regroup tomorrow and and reset."
Quick Hits: Notes from the Teleconference
- On the Duke Kickoff Return TD: "Yeah, 11 guys cover. Nobody touched anyone else."
- On Injuries: "Injury wise, I think we came through pretty good. You know, Cade held up, which was good to see."
- On His Post-Game 'Fire Me' Comment: Swinney brushed off a question about his post-game comment regarding AD Graham Neff. "Yes, that was... Graham all the time."
- On Khalil Barnes 'Not Paying Attention': "No, I don't. I don't have any idea what you're talking about."