Finebaum believes Dabo Swinney's "time is nearly up" (2024)

SEC Network franchise and ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum expects the barbs his way from Clemson fans.

But he says he's also talked to some people who sort of align with his thinking.

His thinking? He’s already been on the record to say that Dabo Swinney’s dynasty of success is over. Finebaum says he has heard from people he describes as Clemson fans that the 54-year-old Swinney might not be long for this era of the sport.

“It is catching up to him as we speak,” Finebaum told McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “And forget the pundits, I know Clemson fans like to aim their arrows at all of us who pontificate about Dabo, but I'm talking about people who have graduated from Clemson. People who are Clemson fans, and I run into a lot of them based on where I live. And they don't think Dabo Swinney is going to be there a long time. And when I mean a long time, I mean 3-5 years. I think his time is nearly up.

“We alliterated a few years ago that Dabo's dynasty was done, and people said, 'How can you say that?' Well, a couple four-loss seasons will make you believe that. But, to me, he has falling so far behind, and that doesn't mean they can't have a good program, that is if you call 9-3 or 8-4 or maybe an occasional 10-2 a good program. But that's not the same school that went to six consecutive CFPs a couple years ago, that played for four national championships -- I think that part of it is over.

“And Dabo Swinney may think he's smart and playing this antediluvian game of 'This is how it's always going to be,' but that's not the way things are. This week is indicative of that in college football. It has changed so quickly in the last three years, and if you missed a minute, you fell behind. He missed three years and he is way behind and he's not catching up.”

Under the current Playoff model, Clemson would have made a seventh CFP in 2022, a season where the Tigers’ playoff bid was derailed by a home rivalry loss to South Carolina. The Tigers started 4-4 last year and finished 9-4. The Tigers started 4-3 in 2021 and finished 10-3.

Finebaum was asked about Clemson’s place in an expanded Playoff and how the brand plays. As you might expect, he was also not optimistic there.

“I think they're already less attractive. Clemson, if you go back to 2016, 2017, 2018 -- they were at the epicenter,” Finebaum said. “We all joked about how boring it is that Alabama and Clemson played each other every year. Nobody is saying that any more. And they weren't that big of a name until then. Clemson has always been a good football school, but it's never been a main attraction like an Alabama or Georgia or Texas or Michigan or Ohio State. And they've fallen off of that, and I think their biggest concerns are even within their own league. We know Florida State has pulled ahead of them. There are other schools that could do that as well. Miami is one you just have to wonder, if they get it right under Mario Cristobal, then that's another school that could inch ahead of them...We've already had this discussion of who's more attractive in the ACC. North Carolina is more attractive than them.

“Arguably Florida State would be. That's dependent on whether you have the stomach for what they've been doing the last two years (trying to get out of the ACC). And Clemson has one toe in the water as well, so that immediately makes them less attractive. And again, it's about brand matchups...It's not so much geography, because we've almost moved past that in college football with the era that we're in.”