Loud and Clear: Swinney's message has been heard, unfazed by 'pacifier' comments
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Since Dabo Swinney’s rant after Clemson’s 38-3 win over South Carolina on Saturday concerning the College Football Playoff and the rhetoric that’s surrounded his team this season, many took to social media trying to make sense of it.
On Kirk Herbstreit’s “Nightcap Recap,” Chris Fowler said he had enough of Swinney saying his program doesn’t get any love. Fowler said Clemson is unbeaten, ranked third in the country, and no one is trying to keep the Tigers out of the Playoff.
On Tuesday morning’s edition of ESPN’s “Get Up,” Paul Finebaum gave his message to Swinney, saying he has been annoying and childish.
“I think Dabo Swinney is the most annoying winner in all of sports,” Finebaum said Tuesday morning. “The guy just can’t keep his trap shut. Somebody just give the man a pacifier, send him to timeout and we’ll check in with him on Dec. 28 when he finally plays a legitimate team during this entire college football season.”
Sitting in the room with Swinney, we almost certainly expected the head coach to fire back a response once he had heard what Finebaum said. Instead, Swinney gave Finebaum his props and said he doesn’t dislike him for doing his job as a radio host - and being really good at doing his job.
“Listen, I like Paul. Paul’s great at what he does... A lot of people don’t like me because I am good at my job or because I wear this logo,” Swinney said during his Tuesday press conference. “He works for the SEC. Let’s get Eric Mac Lain and put him on them shows every day. That’s what he does. That’s his job. I would never be upset at a person because he does a great job. Paul Finebaum is great at what he does…
“Again, I’ve said it before, we’re the Red Sox. He’s the Yankees. You are not going to have a Yankees guy stand up and talk great things about the Red Sox. That’s not what he is paid to do. I think he does a wonderful job, but at the end of the day, I don’t know what he said. Don’t really care.
“But one of the best lessons I’ve learned is that you don’t worry about criticism from people that you wouldn’t seek advice from. I get a lot of criticism. If it’s somebody that I could go sit down and seek some advice from, then I might listen to that.”
Swinney was then alerted that Finebaum said he needed a pacifier and needed to be put in timeout. The response: a laugh and a smile followed by reminiscing to first grade, when he did have time out and nap time.
“We should all have adult nap time,” Swinney added, altogether avoiding the insult.
During his Tuesday press conference previewing the ACC Championship game against Virginia, Swinney picked up right where he left off from the comments he made this weekend.
He believes Clemson’s program deserves some benefit of the doubt because of what it has accomplished and that the ACC as a whole deserves more respect, but has been piled on. Swinney also added that the media has spent too much time focusing on the teams Clemson has played instead of the team Clemson is.
The Tigers are currently 12-0 and have been breezing through the competition that has been put in front of them. Because of that, many national folks have missed out on a “beautiful” football team, Swinney said.
"I just think other programs get the benefit of the doubt from time to time, and for whatever reason our league and certainly Clemson, we don't get the benefit of the doubt,” Swinney said. “If there was another team out there coming off a 15-0 season and had beaten Alabama by four touchdowns... I could understand if we were a new kid on the block, but we've been around here for a long time. We are the second-winningest team in the decade. We played the same schedule that we played last year except we swapped Duke for North Carolina.
“I think the biggest thing is sometimes people create storylines in the offseason, and sometimes it doesn't add up. You know, we weren't supposed to be very good on defense this year. Last year we had all those superstar guys, and we were portrayed differently. The crazy thing is this year's team is better than last year's team, and it's really not even close. But yet you would think based on the perception-- because they still talk about a close game at North Carolina. They still talk about Trevor (Lawrence) throwing a few interceptions early in the season. They don't talk about all the touchdowns. Trevor, if they thought he was good last year, he's so much better now than he was last year at any point. He's twice the quarterback he is now than he was during the National Championship game when everybody crowned him the king of football. He's twice the quarterback he is today, and people have missed it because of this rhetoric all year.”
Last night, during the penultimate release of the College Football Playoff rankings, Swinney’s message was heard, loud and clear.
Host Rece Davis jokingly noted, "Clemson better beat Virginia in that ACC Championship Game, or there is no chance that they go to the playoffs because nobody respects them or believes they're good."
Davis said that not only was he kidding, but he believed that the No. 3 Tigers would be in the playoffs even with a loss against Virginia unless the Tigers got “boat raced.” No one on the set seemed to disagree.
From Swinney’s perspective, that had to feel good, but the reality is that not only has Clemson’s team been dismissed at times, but the stars on this 2019 team have been glossed over for many individual awards.
Yesterday, Swinney added that he doesn’t believe his team has been portrayed correctly, and he’s also taken issue with many of the national awards, saying Trevor Lawrence should be a Heisman finalist based on how he’s playing as of late.
The vibe around Clemson’s program right now is one that seems salty from the top down, and it’s going to stay that way until January. Swinney said he’s never been one to wave any flags when it comes to the conference Clemson plays in, but he wasn’t going to hold his tongue any longer and stood up for the respect he believes his players have earned.
"We're 10-1 against the SEC, by the way,” Swinney continued. “And aren't they the best conference in the world? 6-1 against the SEC West. That don't get written, though. Shoot, that don't fit... ‘Trevor threw an interception! Let's put that on a loop...’”
“From time to time as a leader, I think you've got to speak up. Simple as that. And not let other people diminish what other people have accomplished because that's been an objective from some people. I just try to tell the truth and the way I see it."
The Tigers (12-0) take on Virginia (9-3) for a fifth consecutive ACC crown inside Bank of America Stadium at 7:30 in Charlotte, N.C.