Swinney feels burden of Clemson Nation, says loss ‘my responsibility’

Dabo Swinney didn’t hold back while speaking bluntly during his postgame press conference about the beating his team took at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday night.

Clemson’s head coach called the fourth-ranked Tigers’ 35-14 loss to the Fighting Irish an “ass kicking, period,” and didn’t hesitate to accept full blame for the fact they were bested in every phase of the game.

“At the end of the day, they were the more physical team, they were the more disciplined team, and we had stupid penalties. So, as a result, they were the better-coached team, period,” Swinney said.

“There isn’t nothing else I can say. 14 years as a head coach – I mean we’ve had bad days, I don’t want to overstate – but this is a very disappointing day, and it’s my responsibility. We gave up a score on offense, a score on special teams and a score on defense, and that’s the first time that’s happened since I’ve been a head coach. So, we just got outcoached in every facet of the game. But that’s on me. It’s my responsibility.”

Notre Dame (6-3) took advantage of a pair of non-offensive touchdowns — one on a blocked punt in the first quarter and one on a 96-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter — and also capitalized on an interception deep in Tiger territory that led to another score. The Irish amassed 263 rushing yards, the most the Tigers have allowed this season.

Fresh off a bye week, Clemson fell to 8-1 on the season and saw its nation-leading 14-game winning streak (dating to October 2021) come to an end.

“I wish I could say I saw it coming,” Swinney said. “We had a great week of practice, a great week of preparation, but football is a crazy game. The ball can bounce funny from time to time. If you do this long enough and you play in this arena, unfortunately, there’s some nights like this that you want to forget. I’m glad that these are few and far between. This is a really bad day, a really disappointing day. But we’ll have better days ahead, and it’s my job to make sure that happens. But tonight wasn’t the night.

“At the end of the day, we’re 8-1, not 5-3. We’re 8-1, not 4-4. And again, I feel the burden from the Clemson Nation because it’s my responsibility to win every game, and I didn’t get it done tonight. Simple as that. So, there’s nobody else to blame but me.”

While Clemson’s College Football Playoff hopes were dashed at Notre Dame, the Tigers did clinch the ACC Atlantic Division title and a spot in the ACC Championship Game prior to Saturday’s game, thanks to Syracuse’s loss to Pittsburgh.

Clemson will conclude the regular season with a three-game homestand, beginning with Saturday’s contest against Louisville at Death Valley (3:30 p.m., ESPN), and Swinney mentioned how there’s still plenty left on the table for his team to achieve this year.

“We still have the opportunity to do a lot of things on the season,” Swinney said. “In my 14 years, we’ve only had one undefeated season. It’s hard. Nobody likes to lose. But again, you do it long enough, you’re going to have a day like this. So, all you can do is respond.

“We’ve only got 21 days left in the regular season, so we’ve got to make them all count. And for tonight, it wasn’t our day. You’ve got to give Notre Dame all the credit for tonight. Their coaches, their players, they were outstanding. Their fans, it was a great environment. But a really, really disappointing night for Clemson.”

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