CLEMSON — News flash: Clemson is not a good football team.

The Tigers return from an off-week with a 3-4 record and a promise to “play for Clemson” now that all of their dreams—other than a state championship—are out the window.

Clemson’s struggles this season are well documented. It’s a little bit of everything. The quarterback play has been subpar. The offensive line is awful and now the Tigers will not have their top wide receiver in Bryant Wesco, Jr., who is out for the season with a back injury.

Things are not any better on defense.

The defensive line has been overwhelming. The linebackers are average at best, and the secondary is not very good.

Everyone is calling for change. Some Clemson fans are even calling for a new head coach.

The Tigers need to change a lot of things, but head coach is not one of them.

Dabo Swinney, who has done more for Clemson than any coach before him, is the winningest coach in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference. That’s right, not just at Clemson.

We all know Swinney’s resume. There is no need to regurgitate it. And because we know what his accomplishments are, he deserves the opportunity to fix the Clemson football program.

Now, he needs to really take a hard look at things and make some critical changes. He has to make some changes to his coaching staff. He needs to make some changes to his philosophy in recruiting. He needs to make some changes to his thoughts on the transfer portal.

Swinney needs to do a lot of things.

But he also deserves the opportunity to fix all of the above.

Swinney has done it before.

In 2010, the Tigers were bad. They found different ways to lose games.

The result was a 6-7 season, and everyone wanted Swinney fired. But Swinney brought in Chad Morris to run his offense and then a year later he stole Brent Venables from Oklahoma.

We know the rest of the results.

Also, if you get rid of Swinney, how are you going to pay him?

Swinney’s buyout this season is $60 million. If Clemson tries to move on from Swinney in 2026, it will owe him $57 million.

Think about that for a second. How is Clemson going to be able to pay Swinney that kind of money, plus another coach, plus assistant coaches, plus players? Remember, because of the House Settlement, Clemson must pay its players over $20 million annually.

There is also the NIL. Do you want the donor base to find ways to pay out a national championship winning head coach over their players?

Ask LSU, Penn State and Florida what they are going to do?

Swinney deserves an opportunity to fix the football program – the program he built. They also cannot afford to get rid of him.