Dabo Swinney’s outdated philosophy is turning Clemson into a college football embarrassment. His long-standing resistance to the transfer portal is facing renewed scrutiny as the Tigers sit at a miserable 4-3 following a 20-16 loss to James Franklin’s Virginia Tech.
But here’s the hypocrisy: Swinney insists Clemson has enough talent to win and blames the coaching staff for its failures. Yet he refuses to make changes to the very staff responsible.
During Sunday’s teleconference, Swinney defended his struggling roster and admitted that Clemson’s problems go beyond the players. He believes the Tigers should be winning games, but his coaching staff has failed to deliver.
“No. It’s on us as coaches. I’ve got to be better. We have good enough players. In my opinion we should be 5-2 with momentum. We didn’t get that done and that’s my responsibility,” Swinney said during the press conference.
He noted that repeated mistakes, like running backs missing their marks or players blowing assignments, show that the coaches are failing to get their players on the same page.
Despite a furious fanbase demanding staff changes, Swinney firmly confirmed that offensive coordinator Chad Morris would finish out the 2026 season. When asked directly whether he was confident Morris would remain in charge, his response was emphatic: “Absolutely.”
People are frustrated because the offense looks completely stuck in the mud, lacking any semblance of a downfield passing attack. The Hokies game summed up everything that’s been going wrong under Morris. The entire unit mustered a mere 288 total yards, including 153 passing yards.
Still, Swinney refused to throw his coordinator under the bus.
“There are better days ahead. I haven’t lost any faith in Chad.”
His main defense for keeping Morris around is the coach’s work ethic, praising him as an incredibly detailed, organized, and tireless worker behind the scenes.
Even so, Swinney isn’t blind to the lack of production, summing up his primary goal for Morris and the offense for the rest of the year in two words: “More points.”
To put it bluntly, Chad Morris’ offense at Clemson is on pace for one of the program’s worst scoring seasons in decades, ranking near the bottom of college football.
The Tigers are averaging a miserable 21.4 points per game, ranking 111th out of 138 FBS teams, while gaining just 4.8 yards per play. They are also dead last in the ACC in total offense.
The most embarrassing aspect of this slump is Clemson’s nonexistent passing game. The team has thrown just two passing touchdowns across seven games and hasn’t caught a touchdown pass since mid-September. Quarterback Tait Reynolds had completed only two deep passes downfield entering the Virginia Tech game week.
Consequently, the play-calling under Morris has become painful, predictable, and boring to watch.
Instead of attacking the secondary or utilizing tight ends over the middle, the scheme relies almost entirely on short, sideways passes that opposing defenses figure out instantly.
When reporters questioned whether Swinney might make a midseason staff tweak, similar to his 2025 move of giving analyst Thomas Allen more control over defensive passing game communications, he quickly shot down the idea. He insisted that the current offensive slump was an entirely different situation.
“No. This is a different situation than that. We’re not playing very well, but it’s a different situation,” Swinney said.
Swinney might deserve credit for taking the heat for his staff, but claiming the roster is fine while refusing to make coaching changes could backfire.
Ultimately, he is betting big on loyalty and stability to save Clemson’s season.
Swinney has made his choice. Rather than shake up an offense that has become one of the ACC’s worst, he’s putting his faith in the same coaching staff that failed to deliver through seven games. Loyalty might keep the locker room together, but it won’t put points on the scoreboard. And if Clemson’s offense continues to collapse, Swinney will have nobody left to blame but himself.