But, official thinning of the "Little Ole Clemson" Act has followed the rules. For more than a decade at that time, Dabo Swinney stood as the unbeatable king of that ACC, a coach whose trophy case and “aw shucks” charm paid him a lifetime’s salary. But following a disastrous 7-6 campaign in 2025 — the second-worst campaign he ever coached — his orange-and-purple throne began to look a touch like a hot seat.
Just on a recent episode of the College Football Enquirer, Yahoo! Sports insiders Andy Staples, Ross Dellenger and Steven Godfrey were no holds barred. Staples says the guy who took 2 national championships with him to Death Valley isn’t exempt from being on the coaching carousel anymore.
“I feel like we’re coming into a year where Dabo is really on the table here,” Staples said. “He’s gotta get better, or Clemson is gonna have to do something.”
Certainly Swinney’s resume makes the case. With 187 career wins and 9 conference titles, he is the winningest coach in ACC history. But in the “what have you done for me lately” landscape of modern college football, those seven College Football Playoff appearances seem like a thing of the past. What Swinney’s ‘Clemson Way’ is now seen as failing for stubbornness is becoming his undoing.
Critics are targeting his unwillingness to change directly for his inability to evolve, specifically pointing to the decision to bring back Chad Morris as offensive coordinator, which leaves little room for any of this to be new and seems a little too much more like a reminiscence on 2011 rather than a forward-leaning hire for 2026.
Swinney may be, Staples notes, finally grasping that the walls are closing in on him.
“I feel like Dabo now seems to me... someone who has been looking in the mirror quite a bit,” Staples added, implying that a more reflective tone from the coach’s last year’s defensive rhetoric became something more contemplative.
What is arguably the biggest ego blow for Swinney? The reality that his dream job now is out of reach. Staples said that during Clemson’s recent woes, Swinney probably still had hope that Alabama would call if Kalen DeBoer was moving on.
“I think he knows that’s not happening now,” Staples said.
With CBS Sports having recently placed Swinney in among the 10 coaches facing the biggest pressure this season, and The Athletic forecasting SMU’s Rhett Lashlee will now be at the helm of the Tigers by 2030, the writing isn’t only on the wall — it’s written in neon.
What’s Next for Dabo?
In 2026, sure, if the slide continues, you can expect it to be a bit messy, but don’t expect it to look like a buyout bummer. Staples, in spite of his 187-53 record, doesn’t watch Swinney burn the building up on the way out of the team.
“He’s either the ambassador for Clemson, or he’s on TV, or he goes to a Baylor-type school,” Staples predicted. “Or he does win at Clemson and stay. But that doesn’t seem as likely.”
For a former coach who has won 10 or more games in 13 of the last 15 years, the downturn has been swift. If Clemson does not return to elite status this fall, the most successful period in program history could be permanently over.