For a few years, the Clemson Tigers were one of the most dominant programs in college football under head coach Dabo Swinney, making the College Football Playoff national title game in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 and winning the title in 2016 and 2018. The unfortunate side effect of that success is that it seems to have raised fan expectations too high.
The Clemson Tigers are currently 4-2 and essentially out of College Football Playoff contention, which has fans frustrated. But head coach Dabo Swinney thinks some fans have “such a terrible mindset” when it comes to their expectations and even suggested it could be good to “lose a few games” to get those fans off the Clemson bandwagon.
“We’re at a point in our time, and I hate that, where, you know, people, if you don’t go undefeated, you’re losers. You’re terrible,” Dabo Swinney said. “And it’s just such a terrible mindset, you know. And honestly, maybe we need to lose a few games and lighten up the bandwagon. Sometimes the bandwagon can get a little too full.”
Swinney seems to think that many people around the Clemson program have simply lost appreciation for winning.
“It’s not easy to win. It’s really, really hard to win. And sometimes you can win so much you lose appreciation for it,” Swinney said. “And so, you know, I appreciate some of the longtime Clemson people that have good perspective. Because these kids, they’re in a situation where there’s a lot of noise all the time. And I hate that, but that’s the world we live in. And it comes with the territory. But I really like our team and we’re gonna battle our butts off.”
