“Tyler from Spartanburg” called into Tiger Calls on Monday to give his opinion on the Clemson Tigers’ unimpressive and frustrating season.
He asked Dabo Swinney why Clemson is paying him an $11.5 million salary just to go 4-4. Things got heated as Dabo went on a five minute tirade where he defended his life achievements, his record and the program. While I do not think Dabo handled the situation very well, I do not think he is wrong.
I do not want to be just another person criticizing Dabo Swinney for two reasons. 1) That is all I have seen this week and it is getting exhausting. 2) I feel some of the same anger and frustration as Dabo. This man has won two national championships and has ten games in each of the last 12 seasons.
There are certain things you never do in life. You never ask a woman her age. You never disrespect your parents. And you never comment on another man’s money. That is the mistake Tyler made. As Dabo said in his response, “the expectation is greater than the appreciation.” Sometimes winning in excess creates an epidemic of entitled fans. Clemson has been near or at the top of the college football world for the last 13 years, so it is likely that all Tyler and people like him have ever known is winning. This creates a disproportionate perception of reality. It is okay to expect greatness, but commenting on another man’s money and livelihood is a step too far. He doesn’t work for you, so you have no right to question the amount of money he makes.
Dabo referenced in his response that Clemson went 35 years without winning a national title until the 2016 team beat Alabama. Dabo has won two in the last seven years. We’ll go ahead and make that eight, because even though this season has not been completed, they have zero shot to win it this year. To take it a step further, before Dabo Swinney was hired at Clemson, they had not had a ten-win season the previous 18 years. Stop looking at the world through the glasses of “what have you done for me lately.” As journalists, it is our job to hold people accountable for their actions, but I have observed that there isn’t enough defending people who need defending. And that’s what I will do.
The good news is Dabo must have taken the comments personally, because the Tigers played the best game of the season, taking down 15th-ranked Notre Dame 31-23. They ran the ball down the Irish’s throat and made quarterback Sam Hartman look like a third-stringer. Clemson’s hope for postseason play took a major step forward as they will only have to win one more game to become bowl eligible. The Tigers will host Georgia Tech next week in Death Valley.