Swinney defends program to caller: 'I'm where I am because I've worked my ass off'

During his weekly call-in radio show, Dabo Swinney defended his program after a caller criticized the team along with Swinney’s 11.5 million dollar salary and a 4-4 start to the season.

Caller named Tyler: “Hey, thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate everything you said, Coach Swinney. It sounded a whole lot like Tommy Bowden and I'll tell you one thing, Tommy Bowden didn't make the same amount of money as you do. You make 11.5 million dollars a year. That's second in college football if I'm not mistaken. I'm curious why that salary has led to a 4-4 and I know we're going to talk about just being a couple of plays away from undefeated and all that. I know you're a man of religion. I'm a big fan. Before you categorize me as being in the 1.5%, I was going to Clemson games-- and my entire family, going back generations, has been going to Clemson games when you were in commercial real estate, so I'm not going to accept being in that 1.5%. I respect the fact that you're a man of faith. I'm curious if you've ever read Proverbs 16:18, which talks about pride coming for the fall. I was in the military, and I was overseas for the big run. So I couldn't watch all the games. I'd try my best, but I always watched the press conferences, just for life advice, and I appreciated all that. Something changed after 2018. You're humble, you're hungry and everything, and I always told people, 'Man Dabo, just listen to his press conferences’, but after that 2018 national title, something changed. There seems to be a lot of arrogance that came in. There were a lot of friends and family. I mean, three of the ten onfield football coaches are external, experienced hires. Everyone else was an internal hire that had no experience before or was a former player or friend. So I'm curious: Why are we paying you 11.5 dollars million to go 4-4, and it's not just this year? It's been it's been just the refusal to accept.”

Dabo Swinney: ”Hey, Tyler, I've listened to enough of you. Listen, you can, you can have all your opinions that you want. Alright? I don't know how old you are. Don't really care. All right, but let me tell you something. We won 11 games last year, and you're part of the problem, to be honest with you, because that is part of the problem. It's people like you, the expectation is greater than the appreciation and that's the problem. We've won 12 ten-plus-win seasons in a row. That's happened three times in 150 years. So if you want to know why Clemson ain't sniffed a national championship for 35 years, we've won two in seven years, and there's only two other teams that can say that-- Georgia and Alabama.” 

“Is this a bad year? Yeah. And it's my responsibility, take 100% responsibility for it. But all this bull crap, you're thinking all these narratives you read? Listen, man, you can have your opinion all you want, and you can apply for the job and good luck to you.”

"But to answer your question, we're second in draft picks. We've graduated 98% of our guys. We're second in wins. If you want to know why, again, I'm telling you, we're not perfect. Frank Howard never had a bad year? Coach Ford never had a bad year. Coach K never had a bad year in basketball? People have a bad year, but part of the problem is the appreciation. I used to tell people all the time-- they'd say what's the difference in Clemson? I'm gonna tell you, at some places, there's an expectation, but at Clemson, there's an appreciation. What's happened at Clemson is we've won so much that even when-- it used to be the fun is in the winning-- now, even when you win, people like you, complain and criticize the coaches and question everything. People like you. When I hired Tony Elliott to be the offensive coordinator, who never called a play in his life. I'm sure you were critical then and he took us to two national championships. People like you who just love to destroy people with your comments. I'm sure you've never made any bad decisions. I'm sure you've lived a perfect life. I'm sure you've led a bunch of people. I'm sure you do your job. So to answer your question, I started as the lowest-paid coach in this frickin' business. Alright, and I'm where I am, because I've worked my ass off-- every single day. And I ain't gonna let some smart-ass kid get on this phone and create this stuff. So if you got a problem with it, I don't care."

"I work for the board of trustees, the President in the A.D., and if they're tired of me leaving this program, all they've got to do is let me know. I'll go somewhere else. Where there is an appreciation. It's not just winning, it's how you win, and this is a tough year, but we've had 12 ten-plus win seasons in a row. We lost to Tennessee last year; they won 11 games for the first time in like 20 years. We've had eight 11-win seasons in 11 years or whatever. We've won two national championships. Clemson went 35 years-- probably since before you were born-- your whole frickin' life, and we've won two in seven years, and we earned it. We beat the best of the best to do it. The best of the best. 12 ten-plus when seasons, so if you want to know why, that's why.” 

"Am I perfect? Nope. I'm far from it. And I am a man of faith, absolutely. I'm 53 years old. I have been a part of failure many times, but there ain't one thing in my life that I've ever failed at, Tyler. Never. Alright, ever. I wanted to get an education. I got two degrees. I wanted to be the first college graduate in my family-- I did it. I wanted to go play football, Alabama, I earned a scholarship lettered three years, worked my ass off won a national championship. I wanted to get into coaching. I worked my way to being a head coach. And when I got this job, and I'm sure you didn't want me to get this job, alright, and 15 years later, I'm still here. I'd say the results are what they are, and I stand on them. So you don't ever have to call back. I wanted to get married. I've been married for going on 30 years. I wanted to be a father, I've raised three great sons. If you don't like how I run the program, don't be a fan. I don't care. But I'm the head coach and I'm gonna do what I believe is right, for the long term of this program. What's best for the players and what I think's best for the moment. If you got a problem that's fine, but I'm not gonna sit here and let you call-- I don't give a crap how much money I make. You ain't gonna talk to me like I'm 12 years old. You gotta be fricking kidding me.”

Host Don Munson: “Amen.”

You can listen to the entire show here: https://clemsontigers.com/radio-affiliates/

**Audio belongs to The Clemson Athletic Network