Paul Finebaum takes another shot at Dabo Swinney over expanded College Football Playoff take

Once again, college football analyst Paul Finebaum has some negative things to say about Clemson football’s future hall-of-fame head coach Dabo Swinney.

During Tuesday’s episode of ESPN’s morning show “Get Up,” the team discussed Coach Swinney’s concerns regarding the possible unexpected effects of this year’s expanded College Football Playoff. Before the panel weighed in, they aired a clip featuring Swinney’s remarks.

“You’ll probably see some guys if you’re 4-4 and probably out of the playoffs — probably see some guys head off to Arizona and train,” Swinney said. “You’ll probably see some situations like you see in the NFL — the Ravens are in the playoffs…You got one more game that really means nothing. Do you play Lamar (Jackson) in that game? Maybe you’re 11-0, and you got that rivalry game, but you play your biggest foe the next week in the conference championship. If you win that game, you’re going to get a bye. Those are decisions you will probably see play out in all of college football.”

Naturally, Dabo Swinney’s No. 1 hater, Finebaum, was there to share his opinions on Swinney’s comments.

“No, he’s not right,” Finebaum said. “Dabo, that was plain dumb. What happened to you? You used to be a voice of reason in college football, and now you’re the get off my lawn guy. Everybody knows what we’re doing here. Everybody understands that this is essentially the NFL playoffs. Of course, there’s unintended consequences. That is not breaking news, Dabo. Your goal isn’t to find problems with this system. Your goal is to get back in the playoff. Some place you haven’t been in a while.”

Regardless of shat Swinney says at this point, Finebaum will likely hate it. Swinney has some strong points though, with analyst Mike Greenberg agreeing with his assessment.

“Yes, (Dabo) is right. Because we’re now going from a sport that’s historically been focused almost exclusively on its regular season,” Greenberg said, “and it’s becoming a postseason-driven sport like practically all the rest of them are, and thus you’re going to see those kind of adjustments being made immediately.”

College football will not be the same in 2024.