Paul Finebaum critical of Clemson, Dabo Swinney for early struggles
Paul Finebaum believes we’re witnessing the fall of the Clemson Tigers in real-time. Today on ESPN’s Get Up, Finebaum declared Dabo Swinney‘s long-standing dynasty to be over-with.
“Dabo’s dynasty is done,” stated Finebaum. “I do not like anything I see there … they lost one coach (Jeff Scott) a couple years ago to USF, I think that was a big loss. This is a staff that has always been together, but I think it’s getting stale.
“Yes, recruiting is still good — but will it be elite after what we just got through watching? It just doesn’t look like Clemson is part of the cool kids anymore. I think they’re going to pay for it in recruiting. And they play in a terrible league which will hurt them even more.”
Furthermore, Clemson hasn’t done anything to disprove Finebaum’s notions in 2021. After an opening-season loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, Swinney’s team barely escaped Georgia Tech.
Then, this past weekend, NC State finally made them pay with another loss. Clemson hasn’t been able to figure out their offense, and now they sit at 2-2 through the first month of the season.
After making the College Football Playoff for six-straight season, Dabo Swinney has work to do to get Clemson back on track.
Finebaum: ‘The luster has worn off.’
Additionally, Finebaum mentions that everything that made Swinney great is slowly deteriorating.
“The luster [has] worn off,” Finebaum said Monday on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “I think it’s going to be fascinating to see what happens as a result. Clemson was like a comet seven or eight years ago. … I think two or three years from now, we’re going to see this moment being an inflection point, being somewhat of the end of what has been a mini-dynasty at Clemson.”
With Saturday’s loss, Swinney and Clemson fell to No. 25 in the AP Top-25 poll. With the demotion in the polls, Clemson’s 97-week streak in the AP top-25 — which was tied with Alabama for the longest current run in college football and the second-longest in the history of the AP poll (behind just Miami’s 137 in the 1980s) — was snapped.
“I don’t think Clemson will fall off overnight,” Finebaum said. “But watch the recruiting. If you’re one of those can’t-miss five-stars, and you have the predictable Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio State on your list, are you more likely or less likely to go to Clemson in the future? I think you’re less likely.”
Finally, Finebaum wondered where Dabo Swinney and Clemson go from here.
“I think the real question that has to be asked now is where does this Clemson program go?” asked Finebaum. “And I’m not suggesting the dynasty of the last six years is over. But if you’re a 17-year-old making a commitment, and you’ve got all the usual suspects, that program just doesn’t look the same today.”