Dabo Swinney might be taking heat from all corners after last season, but at least one ESPN voice is still firmly in his corner.
Heather Dinich of ESPN is giving Swinney the benefit of the doubt after a 2025 season that started with ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP poll and ended with a thud in the Pinstripe Bowl. It was a year that left Tiger fans frustrated and gave the national media plenty of ammo.
Now, as Swinney enters his 18th full season leading the program, Dinich says Clemson is set up for a bounce-back year—not just because they want it, but because there’s no other option.
"My outlook is they will be better because they have to be better," Dinich "I talked to Dabo this offseason. You know what he told me? He told me that the pass defense last year was the worst he’s ever had as a head coach. That group is going to be better. All around, they’re going to be better defensively because they’re in the second season of (defensive coordinator Tom Allen's) system."
Dinich is also on board with Swinney’s move to bring Chad Morris back as offensive coordinator. That hire turned some heads around Clemson, especially since Morris hasn’t called plays at the college level since Auburn in 2020. But Dinich sees it as a positive step for the Tigers.
"I love that hire," Dinich said. "And (Swinney) took ownership. He said he has to be better play-calling in the close games, and that’s going to make a difference. So with the player personnel, with staff personnel, and with Dabo himself, I think that this team is a lot better this season.”
Of course, Swinney is no stranger to doubters as Clemson heads into what feels like a make-or-break 2026 campaign. ESPN’s Harry Douglas is just one of many questioning whether Swinney still has his fastball. Douglas pointed to what he calls a drop-off at quarterback since the days of Tajh Boyd, Deshaun Watson, and Trevor Lawrence, all the way through DJ Uiagalelei and now Cade Klubnik.
Klubnik looked like the next big thing after a breakout junior year in 2024, but he took a step back last season after entering 2025 with first-round NFL hype.
Now, all eyes are on Christopher Vizzina as the likely frontrunner for the starting job heading into fall camp. But let’s be honest: Vizzina has just one career start to his name, last year’s 35-24 loss to SMU.
Dinich, for her part, pushed back on the criticism, saying Douglas and the rest of the Swinney skeptics are being too harsh on Clemson’s head coach.
"You guys are so harsh, man. Like, Dabo's the winningest coach at Clemson. He's won national titles. I mean, golly, I think this past season was an anomaly, right? But I don't think you can just erase what he's built there. I understand the 'what have you done for me lately’ mentality. That is college football. But the man has won far more than he's lost. I think this conversation is such a product of the College Football Playoff. And this is why half the SEC coaches, it feels like, were fired last year, because of that mentality. But I think you've got to take the whole picture into perspective."
Dinich later conceded that Douglas had a point when he said that, with Swinney's top-5 salary among college football coaches, he's being paid to contend for national championships.
"That's fair. He's being paid to contend for national titles, year in and year out. He did not do that, obviously, last year. But, you know what? The way college football is right now with the transfer portal and NIL, there’s so much more parity in there. You can’t have a great season every year. All these leagues are gonna play (nine-game conference schedules). It’s just more difficult to be perfect. You’re not gonna have Nick Saban's (success) every single year. Kirby Smart is not gonna win the national title every year. College football is different, and I think all of these coaches just need a little bit of grace to fail. But you’re absolutely right: nobody’s crying over the salaries these guys make."
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