Dabo Swinney reacts to coaches being fired early in season

Five weeks into the season, a handful of head coaches in college football have already been fired. A tough part of the profession, athletic directors want to get a head start on the hiring process by letting guys go early. At the same time, sitting coaches linked to open jobs now deal with outside noise about their own futures.

Dabo Swinney might not be on as hot a seat as some might think. But he was asked about his thoughts on coaches being fired at this stage of the season. While Swinney is not a huge fan of the moves, he understands the modern approach to college football makes it necessary.

“It is what it is,” Swinney said. “With the portal, just the world we live in. But I hate it. These are good people. I reached out to Brent (Pry) last week. Brent is one of the best people but sometimes, it just doesn’t work. Sometimes you do the very best you can and it just doesn’t work. It’s hard because these are real people, families… You hate to see anyone lose their job.”

Virginia Tech is the lone ACC team to currently be vacant. Pry got fired after three full seasons and three games in 2025, finishing with an overall record of 16-24. The Hokies never found a way to progress in the right direction and after a tough start, the plug was pulled.

“We have a job to do,” Swinney said. “We are all held accountable for the job we do. We all understand, there’s not a coach in this business that doesn’t understand that. But it’s still tough, it’s a hard thing for anybody to deal with.”

Swinney also reminded reporters how he got the job at Clemson. Flash back to 2008 when Terry Bowden was in charge. Six games into the year, the Tigers sat at .500, and the move got made. Swinney took over as the interim after starting the season as the offensive coordinator — a promotion he earned due to his work as the assistant head coach/wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator.

Clemson finished 4-3 with Swinney as the interim before taking the tag off. The move certainly worked out, eventually leading to nine ACC titles and two national championships. Possibly viewed as the exception, not the rule, the goal of every mid-season firing is to find the same kind of success as Clemson did 17 years ago.