Why Dabo Swinney doesn’t care about Paul Finebaum’s criticism of Clemson
ESPN personality Paul Finebaum has never been shy when it comes to offering his opinion on Clemson and head coach Dabo Swinney.
That continued Tuesday morning when Finebaum went after Swinney on ESPN’s Get Up! television show.
Finebaum was asked about Swinney claiming that no one wants the Tigers in the College Football Playoff and the committee is looking for a reason to keep Clemson out. Finebaum didn’t hold back.
“I think Dabo Swinney is the most annoying winner in all of sports, I mean the guy just can’t keep his trap shut,” Finebaum said. “I mean somebody just give the man a pacifier, send him to timeout, and we’ll check in with him on December 28th when he finally plays a legitimate team during this entire college football season.”
Swinney was not aware of Finebaum’s comments during his weekly press conference on Tuesday: “Been in meetings. Hate I missed it. I’m sure it was riveting,” he said. But Swinney was filled in by a media member on Finebaum’s take.
“There you go. Creating great conversation,” he said. “I’d like some time out. I’d like to take a nap. … We should have adult time out time. Just all bring a mat, take a nap, and be good. I never had a pacifier, though, so I don’t know how that worked out.”
Finebaum and several people in the media have knocked Clemson’s schedule all season as the Tigers have yet to play a team currently ranked in the top 25. The Tigers will play their first when Clemson faces No. 22 Virginia in the ACC title game on Saturday.
But Swinney insists Clemson is getting judged for the teams it is playing and not for the team it is.
“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 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.”
The Tigers have won two of the past three national titles and are a win away from their fifth consecutive College Football Playoff trip.
Swinney insisted he doesn’t care about Finebaum’s comments.
“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,” he said. “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.”
Still, something is clearly bothering him.
“Nobody personally... I don’t really care what people say about me. This has nothing to do with another team or anything like that. I focus on Clemson,” Swinney said. “It’s just I think what’s been achieved by this group of young people should be recognized, and it’s a shame that a lot of people have missed it outside of our folks here. It’s incredible what they’ve done. It’s historic. Just a beautiful group of young people. This is a special football team.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 3:20 PM.
