Even on January 13, 2020, the official end of collegiate football’s tenth season, Dabo Swinney maintained a generally positive attitude. Even though his Clemson team had just lost the College Football Playoff final game to LSU handily, there was still life in the air. That night, not only did Clemson face a historically renowned squad, but Swinney’s program felt so solid and established that it was hard to envision anything going wrong.
“It wasn’t our night, but man, what an unbelievable year,” he commented. It’s true that this decade has been incredible. A truly amazing ten years. Looking forward to beginning this new one.”
Although Alabama was undoubtedly the program of the 2010s, Clemson was unquestionably the next best thing.
If he had left his coaching post that evening or joined the NFL, the statue would have been completed by now. But why wouldn’t Swinney be enthusiastic about the upcoming ten years of Clemson football, given that he had just turned fifty at the time? Right there in his own little upstate kingdom in South Carolina, he had everything he could have dreamed for, including a highly successful program and an entirely loyal fan base.
What has altered, then? Now, in 2023, Clemson is at a dismal 4-4 after falling to North Carolina State 24-17. In an attempt to calm down irate fans, Swinney has resorted to lecturing them about how difficult it is to succeed and snapping at them for abandoning the cause. Furthermore, he doesn’t seem to know much about the reasons behind the sharp decline in his program.
On Saturday, Swinney told reporters, “I don’t understand why some of the things have happened the way they’ve happened.” It’s been peculiar. I think that’s the greatest word I can use.
But is it really that strange?
According to the Misery Index, Clemson’s problems are quite straightforward: They lack talent.
