Dabo Swinney bemoans 'bandwagon' Clemson fans for 'terrible mindset' amid 2023 struggles

Clemson is still having a pretty good season in 2023, even if it’s not what Tigers fans are used to experiencing under Dabo Swinney.

Clemson is currently 4-2 entering Saturday’s game at Miami. A College Football Playoff berth is off the table for the third consecutive season, but the Tigers could once again reach the 10-win mark for the 13th straight year.

Swinney would obviously love to win every game. However, he said during his call-in show Monday night that perhaps it’s a good thing the Tigers dropped a couple of games to get rid of negative fans.

“We’re at a point in our time, and I hate that, where, you know, people, if you don’t go undefeated, you’re losers. You’re terrible,” Dabo Swinney said. “And it’s just such a terrible mindset, you know. And honestly, maybe we need to lose a few games and lighten up the bandwagon. Sometimes the bandwagon can get a little too full.”

Clemson has been in position to win every game this season, but turnovers proved to be costly in losses to Duke and Florida State.

After being hopeful that this would be the year Clemson would return to the College Football Playoff, a portion of the fan base was extremely disappointed after a 2-2 start. Fans voiced displeasure on social media, radio shows and message boards.

Swinney hopes that the early losses got rid of fans who weren’t following the program for the right reasons. He added that he still feels strongly his program has a bright future.

“You know, that’s the one good thing about going through a little bit of so called adversity is you really find out, you know, who’s with you and who’s not,” Swinney said. “But as far as our program, hey, we may win every one of these games out. We could lose every one of them. We’re a really good team that can beat anybody, and we’re a team that could lose to anybody. But our program is built to last. I mean we’re going to be around for a long time. We’ve got the makings, I really believe the foundational pieces to the next championship at Clemson is on this team. I don’t have any doubt about that.”

Time will tell if Clemson is able to get back to the top of the college football world under Dabo Swinney. For now, he wants fans to appreciate each win more and stop being so negative after losses.

“It’s not easy to win. It’s really, really hard to win. And sometimes you can win so much you lose appreciation for it,” Swinney said. “And so, you know, I appreciate some of the longtime Clemson people that have good perspective. Because these kids, they’re in a situation where there’s a lot of noise all the time. And I hate that, but that’s the world we live in. And it comes with the territory. But I really like our team and we’re gonna battle our butts off.”