Despite the sub-.500 record this season, Dabo Swinney remains confident that Clemson will win more championships in the future.

In fact, the Tigers’ longtime head coach promises that his program will.

“We’ll be back. We’ll win more championships. We’ll win more championships. I promise you that,” Swinney said. “May not happen this year, but we’re going to win more championships. That’s all I can say, and I think we have a track record that demonstrates that.”

Clemson hasn’t had a losing season since 2010, but Saturday’s 35-24 loss to SMU at Memorial Stadium sent the Tigers to 3-4 this season and 2-3 in ACC play.

The loss marked Clemson’s fifth straight to a Power 4 opponent, the first time that has happened at Clemson since 1970 and 1971 when the Tigers lost six straight.

Clemson was ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP Poll before opening with a home loss to LSU, a comeback win over Troy at home, and then consecutive losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse to start ACC play. Clemson’s two ACC wins have come against two of the conference’s weakest teams in North Carolina and Boston College.

“There’s not much I can say, other than just let’s go back to work, and this is a tough year to this point,” Swinney said. “But the year’s not over. So, that’s all I can say, is we hopefully have earned a lot of credibility around here. There’s been a lot of great years. A lot of great years. But this is a tough one. But we’re going to try to fight our way and finish this thing the very best that we can, and then we’ll start over, just like we do every year. That’s what we do every year. We have a great year, or we have a tough year – we start over, and then you go back to work. That’s what we’ve always done.”

Of course, Clemson has won two national championships under Swinney, most recently in 2018. The Tigers captured their first national title with Swinney at the helm in 2016, snapping a 35-year title drought for the program dating to its first title in 1981.

Clemson has also won nine ACC titles under Swinney’s watch.

“We’ve had a lot of success. But right now, we’re not, and I take the good with the bad,” Swinney said. “I don’t like it, but that’s just my perspective, and I know something good will come from it. I promise you, though, I’ve never worked harder and I’m going to continue to do everything I can.”

Swinney still believes that Clemson’s process is working, but what would he say to fans who are frustrated with the 3-4 record and feel like the process isn’t?

“Certainly, I don’t blame them. I’m disappointed, too. We’re all disappointed,” Swinney said. “We’re incredibly frustrated, but that’s where we are, and I take full responsibility for that. But all I can do is keep working and see if we can find a way to win the next game.”

After next weekend’s open date, Clemson will host Duke at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 1.