What Dabo Swinney said after Clemson’s loss to Syracuse
The Clemson football team is 1-3 for the first time in the Dabo Swinney era after Saturday’s 34-21 home loss to Syracuse.
The Tigers also dropped to 0-2 in the ACC.
Here’s a quick roundup of what Swinney said after the game.
— “An incredibly disappointing outcome and start to our season. A lot of pain. I’ve been in a lot of painful locker rooms, and that one was up there at the top. My heart hurts for our team and the fans.”
— “We cannot seem to get on the same page and play complementary football. We can’t seem to get it all together. We kind of work against each other.”
— “The first half (defense) was as poor as I’ve seen it.”
— “Offensively a ton of yards, but you don’t get style points. The name of the game is finishing in the end zone and through the uprights. ... Just not enough points.”
— “It’s my responsibility for us to be better. It’s not the start to our season that any of us envisioned.”
— “Credit to our fans. I thought they showed up today.”
— On the ESPN broadcast showing him emotional postgame: “I’m human, man. I’m not a cyborg. It’s my life. I’ve been here 23 years. I love this place. I give this place the very best I’ve got every single day. I hurt. I’ve invested my life here. ... I feel the pain. It’s not just my pain. I feel everybody’s pain, but that comes with my job. I don’t run from that. ... This is a very, very low day, but I also know we’ll get through it. There’ll be more great days. Nobody wants to hear that in this moment, but it’s true.”
— “I appreciate the heart of our players. They fought to the last play. ... They love Clemson and they love each other. The open date is coming at a good time. We’re beat up physically and emotionally.”
— “We’ll rally. There’s no quit in me and I didn’t see any quit in our team or our staff. ... We’ve got to flush it. There’s no hope for a better yesterday.”
— “We’ll have to reset our goals. We can’t sit around and dwell on miss opportunities. ... We’ll see if we can win a game. It’s basically an eight game season at this point.”
— Swinney says they never considered benching starting QB Cade Klubnik and going to backup QB Christopher Vizzina during the Syracuse game.: “I thought Cade competed his butt off. Had some bad plays but some good ones, too.”
— Swinney says he wished they got running back Adam Randall the ball on the failed 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 plays in the third quarter when Clemson was trailing 27-14. “That’s one you’d like back.” Says OC Garrett Riley liked the call, but in hindsight they should have gotten the ball to Randall there.
This story was originally published September 20, 2025 at 6:55 PM.
