Dabo Swinney proclaims win over Louisville will be 'part of the next championship' for Clemson

There have been plenty of ups and downs to the 2025 season for the Clemson Tigers. Friday night on the road against Louisville was certainly one of the ups, though, and something for head coach Dabo Swinney to build upon.

After the game, Swinney was effusive in his praise for the Tigers. In particular, the resiliency and effort of the team. It’s that effort which Swinney believes Clemson will build to its next national championship on the back of.

“We’ve won a lot, and we’ll win more,” Dabo Swinney said. “We’ll win more, but this right here will be a part of our next championship. This is just a part of the next championship. It’s a part of the process to the next great season. These guys deserve a lot of credit for it. These seniors. The lessons that are being learned, for the rest of their life, are amazing. To be able to witness it in this and to hear them, to hear their voice, to hear them articulate things and articulate their heart, again, see them. They care about the place, and they care about each other. That’s not common in college football right now. It’s just not. I’m just thankful for them.”

National championships became the standard at Clemson under Dabo Swinney. He’d win two during the four-team College Football Playoff era, but the program seemingly took a step back in the NIL and Transfer Portal era. This season, the hope had been that Clemson would get back on track and be competitive for the ACC and another national championship.

That, however, hasn’t happened for Clemson. Swinney’s Tigers opened the season 1-3 and have been fighting since then to get to .500. With the win over Louisville, they were able to do just that and now sit at 5-5. Even if Clemson wins out, 7-5 would be the worst record for a Clemson team since 2010, when they went 6-7. That was Swinney’s second season leading the program.

“If you watched us practice, you’d think we’re undefeated in how they work and how they prepare. That’s what really hurt me so much early in the season,” Swinney said. “Because this team’s done everything right. Spring, summer, leadership, and it just hasn’t gone our way. Expectations, disappointment, whatever, but it’s just made us stronger.”

The pressure is going to be mounting on Dabo Swinney once the regular season is over to address what went wrong in 2025. It’s something he’s done before. It’s also something that finishing strong would go a long way to help him do so.