Dabo Swinney shreds officiating across college football, calls for change

Dabo Swinney shredded college football officiating on Tuesday, going off on how there should be accountability from the officials. When coaches and players are accountable for mistakes, referees should be treated no different, according to the Clemson coach.

“It’s impactful. So, you know, as opposed to just getting a report on Monday, you turn in 10 (plays) and we had a game … I ain’t gonna tell you the game. I’m not gonna say the game, but we’re only allowed to turn in, you know, there’s a system of accountability, but y’all don’t know anything about it,” Swinney said. “It’s behind a curtain. ‘How dare we have accountability?’

“In the meantime, we got gambling issues going on, people being suspended, all that kind of stuff, right? Yep. I mean, refs are people too. It ain’t just coaches and players. And if they’re a part of the game, then by God, they ought to be a part of the game, and they ought to be a part of the accountability, and they ought to be a part of the consequences, not just behind some shadowy curtain like no, they ought to have to answer for it.”

Dabo Swinney says the state of CFB officiating is a bad system that needs change:

“In the meantime we got gambling issues going on and people are being suspended…refs are people too. If they are a part of the game they ought to be part of the accountability and consequences.” pic.twitter.com/6AMqIIp2VV

— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) November 4, 2025

Swinney even called for full-time officials because sometimes missed calls are game altering. Anything to improve officiating and it could start with these referees working full-time, not just in-season.

“And listen, there’s judgment calls and all that,” Swinney said. “And, I mean, we just have to disagree to disagree. But there’s also absolute flat out misses with no consequences. We’re allowed to turn in 10 calls, alright? And so we had a game earlier this year that we lost. I had 14 I wanted to turn in, but I could only turn in 10. I thought eight were wrong, but got back: ‘Yep, missed it.’ Five of the 10 were wrong. And I mean, these are game changing calls, obvious pass interference, not called that takes you off the field. But yeah, we just get: ‘this will be addressed with the crew’ and yada yada yada, okay, yeah … there’s no no public accountability.”

Swinney and Clemson have struggled, not entirely due to officiating mistakes. But perhaps the long time coach makes a point, especially being around the game as long as he has.

“So that’s the system,” Swinney said. “The system needs to change. It needs to be changed. There needs to be challenge opportunity and we need full time officials. If you’re going to have this type of stakes, needs be full time officials.”