During a recent episode of First Take, former NFL MVP Cam Newton was part of an ESPN panel that gave their thoughts on Dabo Swinney’s comments and the current state of the Clemson football program (3-4, 2-3 ACC).

Swinney defended his credibility after Clemson’s latest loss to SMU on Oct. 18.

“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. … I promise you, though, I’ve never worked harder and I’m going to continue to do everything I can.”

“We’ll be back. We’ll win more championships. We’ll win more championships. I promise you that,” Swinney added. “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.”

Newton, the former Heisman Trophy winner, was asked what he thought about those comments from Clemson’s longtime head coach.

Newton believes Swinney’s unwillingness to change and adapt to modern college football, including the transfer portal and name, image and likeness, is the main reason for the Tigers’ recent struggles.

“When I think about Dabo Swinney, the only reason why Dabo Swinney is not like Deshaun Foster, is not like Billy Napier, is not like James Franklin, is because he just won an ACC Championship last year,” Netwton said. “Had he not won that, that’s the only thing that’s keeping his job as the head coach of the Clemson University.

“But for me, the thing that Dabo has been deficient at is getting with the new program. He has been behind in NIL. He has been behind in saying, like, yeah, we want to go attack the transfer portal. And when you’re stubborn with that, you live with it and you gotta die with it as well. And that’s the unfortunate truth of the disappointing season that we’ve seen Clemson has had this whole year.”

Of course, Clemson opened the 2025 season ranked No. 4 by the Associated Press, and the expectations for the Tigers were to be a national championship contender. Now, Clemson finds itself out of the College Football Playoff race, as well as repeating as ACC Champions.

The loss to SMU 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. This marks the first time since 2001 Clemson has lost three home games in a season, and it has been a full year since Clemson last beat a Power 4 team at home.

Newton added that Swinney must “alter his coaching strategy” in order to turn things around moving forward.

“When you think about how and what’s been Dabo Swinney’s strategy to lure young men to his university or to his college, right, the thing is we build from within,” Newton said. “That’s from our player personnel standpoint, and our coaches. So we’re talking about the players on one front. From what I hear is the coaches really haven’t changed that’s around him. The thing about NIL and the thing about Gen Z is players need guys that are relatable to them. When you’re going to recruit certain people, it’s not just recruiting the players any more. You gotta recruit the whole family. You gotta make sure that hey, not even mentioning how soon can they play. It’s disappointing to make this understanding as well too, is how much are they going to get paid?

“From an old school coach that is a Dabo Swinney, he has to now alter his coaching strategy, and that has to come with change. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the unfortunate truth that we’re living in, in college football right now.”