A couple of weeks ago, Dabo Swinney -- the once-revered, two-time national championship-winning head coach of Clemson football -- made clear that the Tigers' fan bandwagon could stand to lose some weight from spoiled fans.
Monday night, on his eponymous radio show after Clemson was dealt its fourth loss of the season in a road-setback at North Carolina State, Swinney absolutely uncorked on a fan who asked the veteran head coach why he has been paid so well - right at a whopping $11 million per year -- to lose with such frequency.
Clemson's four losses through eight games match the program's most number of defeats in a dozen years.
"You're part of the problem," Swinney fired off to a fan who asked about his massive salary and .500 results this season. "If you want to apply for the job, go for it.
"And, good luck to you."
A former walk-on player at the University of Alabama, Swinney, who has admirably and consistently leaned on his Christian faith in his time atop the program, was only getting warmed up -- like an old-school preacher on a mid-summer revival circuit.
"To answer your question, I started as the lowest-paid coach in this business," Swinney emphasized, in quotes shared by The State (Columbia, S.C.) newspaper. "I worked my ass off. I'm not going to let this smart-ass kid get on the phone [and dictate how Swinney should coach Clemson.]
"I work for the board of trustees, the President, the AD."
All valid points.
Equally valid? Clemson is an absolutely pathetic 3-6 in its last nine games against Power-5 competition.
The Tigers closed last season with losses against rival South Carolina and Tennessee in the Orange Bowl sandwiched around their ACC Championship win against North Carolina.
This season, Clemson was smacked at Duke by three touchdowns to begin the 2023 campaign, followed up with a loss against Florida State at home in overtime in its next game against a P-5 foe and most recently posted back-to-back losses at Miami and North Carolina State.
After the 21-point loss at Duke to open the season, Clemson's three most recent losses have come by a combined 22 points -- two of those games in overtime.
A year ago, Swinney dismissed former quarterback and longtime-assistant Brandon Streeter after just one season as Clemson's offensive coordinator.
The program then hired well-regarded coordinator Garrett Riley away from TCU, but Clemson has failed to score more than 24 points in all but one game this season against P-5 competition and headed into the season's final month with Football Bowls Subdivision's No. 63 scoring offense -- at 28.8 points per game.
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney went on an epic 5-minute rant tonight after ‘Tyler, from Spartanburg’ asked him about his $11.5 million salary and 4-4 season.
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) October 31, 2023
“I’m not gonna sit here and let you, I don’t care how much money I make. You’re not gonna talk to me like I’m 12-years old..” pic.twitter.com/XvjhZDUd2m