Paul Finebaum blasts Clemson, Dabo Swinney: 'He cannot get the foot out of his mouth right now'

To say Paul Finebaum has no confidence in Dabo Swinney and Clemson would be an understatement. He believes the Tigers are in dire straights after their third loss of the season this past weekend.

Speaking with ESPN’s Matt Barrie, Finebaum claimed Clemson wasn’t fine, and they have more problems than an algebra textbook. Wherever they go from here is anyone’s guess, but it’s certainly a shock to the system.

“They are so not fine,” Finebaum stated, via SportsCenter. “It’s really unbelievable, and it’s almost indescribable how bad they have been—especially at the quarterback position, where they were supposed to be as good as anywhere, and on defense, where they had one of the best defenses in America.

“They can’t do anything. Dabo Swinney really bears the blame, and I wish he would be quiet. He cannot get the foot out of his mouth right now.”

It’s not the first time Finebaum has tried to speak some sense to Swinney. Prior to his hit on SportsCenter, the ESPN analyst steered the Clemson coach in a couple different directions, believing his time with the Tigers might need to come to an end sooner rather than later.

“My advice to Dabo, and I know he doesn’t like taking advice from people like me, is to get out of there,” Finebaum previously said. “Be quiet. Quit talking. Because, he has no credibility now with his fan base. I mean, they’ve heard the whines before. He’s become a meme. He’s become, for a really good coach — and I do believe he’s a really good coach — he’s become somewhat of a laughing stock every time he opens his mouth.

“It’s time for him to do one of two things. It’s either consider another school, and I think he is hireable if he quits talking. Or, just get away from football and become a TV guy. He’s very funny, he’s very clever. He’s got more credentials than any other non-TV coach out there. And what I mean by that is Saban has already got a job. I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about of the people that can leave coaching and go into TV, he would be very coveted.”

All told, Clemson entered the season as one of the favorites to win the national title. Alas, Clemson fell 17-10 to LSU in their season-opener and hasn’t recovered since.

It’s a perplexing issue for the Tigers, who returned 16 starters from a team that won the ACC Championship last season. Alas, Clemson is now 0-2 in conference play and not showing any signs of a turnaround.

In the loss against Syracuse on Saturday, Clemson’s offense was successful on just 3-of-its-13 third-down conversion attempts and 1-of-its-5 fourth-down conversion attempts. Clemson is averaging 365.6 yards per game this season, ranking No. 88 in the country.

Time will tell where Clemson goes from here, but Finebaum will be keeping a keen eye on the Tigers. They’ll enjoy a much needed bye week in Week 5, before getting back after it against Bill Belichick’s North Carolina squad in Week 6.