Dabo Swinney states Clemson has 'got a long way to go' after loss to Georgia Tech

Make no mistake about it, Dabo Swinney was disappointed after Clemson fell to Georgia Tech in Week 3. However, all hope isn’t lost for the Tigers.

Despite a 1-2 record, Swinney recognizes Clemson still has a lot of season left. No, this isn’t the position the Tigers thought they would find themselves in, but there’s plenty of work to be done in 2025 that can lead the program to the heights they’d like to reach this season.

“It’s really disappointing,” Swinney stated, via his postgame press conference. “I know there’ll be a lot of criticism, a lot of negativity, all that stuff that comes with it. But the important thing is our team has to stay away from that and stay together. None of that outside noise is going to help us. We’ve just got to find a way to win a game this week.

“We’ve got a long way to go — that’s it. We’ve got a long way to go. This is competition, and there are no quitters in that locker room. There’s no quit in me, that’s for sure. We’ll simply find a way to win a game next week.”

Clemson certainly has the talent— and the coaching staff — to turn things around. This isn’t anything Swinney hasn’t dealt with before. Count the Tigers out at your own risk, even if the chips are down at the moment.

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Alas, Clemson is now 1-2 to begin a college football season for the first time since 2010. Paul Finebaum decided to condemn the Tigers for their Week 3 performance against the Yellow Jackets. After a poor start to the 2025 season, Finebaum revealed his outlook on the rest of Clemson’s year.

“Last year, they found their way back in but that was a weaker ACC than this year,” Finebaum said during SportsCenter. “I mean, you don’t want to ever write somebody off this early, but why why would that stop me from writing somebody off? I’m writing them off. They’re out. They’re not coming back.”

Despite the loss, Clemson out-gained Georgia Tech on offense 381 yards to 358. However, the Tigers gave up the only two turnovers during the matchup. In the end, the early deficit coupled with turnovers and a well-managed final drive that caused the Yellow Jackets to send Clemson back to Death Valley with an upset loss. 

Clemson will look to put a halt to their slow start to the season during its Week 4 home stand against Syracuse on Saturday. Looking ahead, the Tigers still have matchups against SMU(last year’s ACC title game), Florida State, Louisville and South Carolina on the docket before the end of the season.

— On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.