Shannon Sharpe sharply criticizes Dabo Swinney

Like Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said in his postgame press conference, you open the door to detractors when you lose by 31 points and look largely uncompetitive. Those detractors include but aren’t limited to Booger McFarland , but the genesis of the message and the criticism directed toward Swinney and his program is that his stubbornness has allowed Clemson to no longer be among college football’s elite.

That stubbornness is his refusal to use the transfer portal, in addition to Clemson not being at the forefront of Name, Image, and Likeness. The Tigers are still recruiting high school players at a high level, and while their entire roster isn’t made up of five stars like Georgia, they aren’t far off. They lack the use of the transfer portal, which the program has only used to add two backup quarterbacks in the past three seasons (Hunter Johnson and Paul Tyson).

Clemson’s refusal to use the portal to supplement its roster needs was on full display in its 34-3 loss. The Tigers aren’t lacking talent, but the most stark contrast we saw was Georgia rolling to a 31-point victory behind touchdowns from two transfer wide receivers, London Humphreys (Vanderbilt) and Colbie Young (Miami).

Now, Shannon Sharpe didn’t get that deep in the trenches during his Nightcap show with Chad Johnson, but he did blast Clemson’s head coach for what he views as a refusal to adapt to what it takes to win in the modern game of college football.

“Check this out, he’s gonna have to come to the conclusion, the realization; he’s gonna have to have an epiphany, which is a realization that if you don’t get the transfer portal, you ain’t winning,” said Sharpe. “…Clemson is one of four teams, Navy, Army, Air Force — they don’t accept transfers at the service academies — that didn’t land a transfer. Hey, Dabo, you said when they started paying players, you were gonna exit stage left.

“I remember, hey, you know another guy? Coach K said, ‘I don’t do that. One and dones? No, that ain’t me.’ Right? Until he started doing one and dones. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Dabo, get with the program. You’re not that good. You’re not that good, buddy. You’re not that good. If you think you’re just gonna get high school seniors, and that’s what you gonna win with? Bro, it’s over. It is over. Everybody else is doing it. Look at the top-10 teams.

“I was reading a thing, I think it was The New York Times, where it’s telling you what it costs to get a top nine. You’re paying $700,000-$800,000 for a quarterback. You’re paying $400,000-$500,000 for a receiver. You’re paying $400,000-$500,000 for a defensive lineman. Can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

Johnson added that Swinney has to understand that the sport of college football is now a business, so he needs to evolve as the business model of collegiate football is evolving and that’s the only way Clemson is going to continue to compete.

“They went 9-4 last year; that was the first time since 2010 that they didn’t win 10 games,” continued Sharpe. “Hold on, you mean to tell me Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, all the top 10 teams can go in the portal, but you think you are good enough not to?… So, Dabo can do all this. He can get on his pulpit and preach and pontificate all he wants to. ‘Oh, I’ll leave if they start…’ You ain’t got no plan.

“He had no problem every time Clemson gave him a boost. He making $7 (million), he making $8, he making $10, he making $11. He ain’t had no problem. ‘Oh, the players. This is college. This is…’ Man, shut up. Them players finna get that money, get it. Get it, and don’t y’all go to Clemson unless they pay top dollar.”

[ Nightcap ]

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