Finebaum Blasts Swinney Once Again, Calls Him ‘Stupid’

Once again, ESPN personality Paul Finebaum didn’t hold back while discussing Dabo Swinney and Clemson on Monday.

On ESPN’s Get Up show, Finebaum blasted Clemson’s head coach when talking about whether Swinney and the Tigers have fallen behind other programs due to Swinney’s transfer portal approach.

Of course, Clemson is one of only four programs in the FBS that didn’t take a player from the transfer portal this past offseason (Air Force, Army and Navy).

Finebaum called Swinney “stupid” as he weighed in on whether Swinney is being left behind by not using the portal.

“Nobody’s trying to make Dabo out to be terrible, but what he is, is stubborn, and I would go so far as to say stupid,” Finebaum said. “Because if you don’t use the tools that you have at your disposal, you are dumb into today’s world of college football. The problem is, we can’t have a conversation with Dabo Swinney without talking about the past. We are living in the present and moving toward the future.”

Finebaum says he knows how Clemson fans feel about Swinney and his use of the portal, or lack thereof.

“I’m around Clemson fans. I don’t live that far from where Clemson University is headquartered. And quite frankly, those fans are frustrated too because they got used to it,” Finebaum said. “They got used to going to six playoffs and playing for four national championships. This is a man that beat Nick Saban twice for the title, but that was a couple years ago. LSU fans are angry today about Brian Kelly (following LSU’s loss to Southern Cal), and they won a title in 2019. That’s just not the way college football is. Now maybe at (ESPN analyst) Joey (Galloway)’s school (Ohio State), which last won a national championship in 2014, there’s a little more leeway. But not here and not at Clemson, Joey.”

Those latest comments from Finebaum regarding Swinney and Clemson come on the heels of what he had to say on Sunday following the Tigers’ 34-3 loss to Georgia this past Saturday — that the elite status of Swinney and his program is over, and Swinney should “start planning an exit strategy.”

“Clemson is a good program, they’ll compete in the ACC, but their days as a program that matters, their days as a program that is spoken with reverence, are gone. Everyone knows what they’ve done, but they’re not doing it this year, and I don’t see them ever doing it again as long as Dabo Swinney is there,” Finebaum said .

“And I don’t mean that the program is isn’t capable. But his approach to college football doesn’t work any longer. He’s been slow to move for everything. He now has that reputation as ‘grumpy Dabo,’ and I frankly think Dabo Swinney would be smart to start planning an exit strategy.

“I’m not saying they’re getting rid of him. They’re not. They’re stuck with him. He’s part of who they are. But he would be better to look elsewhere, to find another way to do it, because it’s simply not going to matter. He may find ways into the playoff in the future, but he’s not going to find a way to hold up the trophy any longer, not the way he’s running that program.”

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