Dabo Swinney calls out 'logo schools' in passionate defense of Clemson football

Before turning to November, season-long expectations have not been met by Clemson. Many predicted the Tigers to not only make the College Football Playoff but win the national championship as well. Sitting at 3-4 through seven games likely is not what Dabo Swinney expected at this stage.

Even so, Swinney continues to defend the work he has done throughout the years. On Monday, he called out “logo schools” for not getting over the hump — something Clemson has done on three occasions under Swinney’s watch. After all, only Alabama holds more national championships since the turn of the century.

“There’s a lot of logo schools out there that haven’t won a championship since Christopher Columbus sailed,” Swinney said via Chapel Fowler of The State Newspaper. “It’s hard to do … Everything we’ve done here, we’ve done multiple times.” He later added that Clemson is “built on the right stuff.”

Swinney did help Clemson make last year’s CFP after earning a spot in the ACC Championship game. Miami lost to Syracuse late in the season, opening the door for Clemson. They took advantage of the situation, beating SMU and slotting into the 12-team field with the final spot.

But another poor campaign means people are once again calling for Swinney’s job. Not too uncommon in today’s college football, as multiple massive jobs are open in the middle of the season. LSU‘s Brian Kelly was the latest to be fired on Sunday evening. Brent Pry at Virginia Tech is another example inside the ACC.

Not many professions out there are like being a head coach. Swinney acknowledged the craziness of them all, possibly wondering why people want him out of Clemson, even with the success.

“A lot of guys are getting fired because they don’t have a track record of winning championships,” Swinney said. “And a lot of people want me fired despite a track record of winning championships. It’s a crazy profession.”

Swinney admits all of his attention right now is getting Clemson prepared to play Duke. A win would bring the Tigers back to .500 at 4-4 overall. If Clemson can pull off a surprising run to close out the year, they are likely still too far behind to produce another surprise run.

Those previous national championships remain fresh on his mind, though. Swinney feels like some “logo schools” out there — without mentioning any specific teams — might be willing to switch spots with Clemson.