CHARLOTTE — There are people out there, fans and media perhaps, that feel Dabo Swinney has lost his ability to coach.

It’s a popular perception. Or is it a misperception.

I think Swinney feels it is the latter of the two.

Clemson’s head coach does not believe he has lost his fastball. However, the argument that he has is an understandable one.

Clemson Football has slowly declined since the days it was winning national championships and winning the ACC regularly.

Since Trevor Lawrence’s last pass in the College Football Playoff Semifinals in 2021, the Tigers have been to the CFP just once, and that was first-round loss to Texas. A program that was winning 12 to 15 games on a regular basis, was suddenly struggling to get to 10 wins.

It then had its first non-10-win season in 13 years in 2023 and last year the Tigers barley had a winning record (7-6), their worst season since 2010.

Throw in the fact Swinney was reluctant to use the transfer portal for a number of years, and the way schools were exploiting the portal and using NIL to entice players, he became “the old man yelling at the clouds,” giving the perception the game has passed him bye.

Has the game passed him by?

Does he remind himself that he is still the same coach that led Clemson to two national championships and nine ACC Championships?

“I don’t have to remind myself that,” he said smiling. “I know that. So guys, I don’t really pay much attention.”

In recent months, Swinney has reminded some in the media that he is at the same age, 56, that Nick Saban was when he came to Alabama in 2007. He already has more wins and national championships than Saban did at this age.

Swinney’s point?

He believes he still has a lot of years left and firmly believes he can take Clemson back to the top of the mountain.

“Just keep going, man. Just keep going,” he said. “I mean, we don’t we just need to get on with the season. See if we can win some games. I’ll let everybody else talk about all that stuff, but it’ll create some great conversation at some point. That’ll be fun.”

It will be fun to see what the Tigers can do in 2026. Maybe Swinney and the Tigers will remind everyone that Clemson isn’t going anywhere.

If he does not have his fastball anymore, maybe he has a good slider he can throw out there.