Is this the most frustrating season that Dabo Swinney has experienced as Clemson’s head coach?

Swinney was asked that question during his postgame press conference following Saturday’s 46-45 loss to Duke at Memorial Stadium – Duke’s first win at Clemson since 1980.

“No. 2010,” Swinney replied. “I would put this one and ’10 probably right there. Those two.”

The reigning ACC champion, coming off a College Football Playoff appearance last year, Clemson entered this season ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll, and multiple national analysts picked the Tigers to win the national title.

Now, Swinney’s team sits at 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the ACC. The Tigers are on track for their worst season since the aforementioned 2010 campaign, when they finished 6-7 and Swinney thought he was going to be fired.  

“’10 was brutal. We lost five games by six points or less, two in overtime. It was brutal,” Swinney said. “… That was a really brutal year. Lost at home here to South Carolina. I thought I was getting fired right here in this room actually.”

Swinney then gestured to the back of the room, where athletic director Graham Neff was on hand for Swinney’s postgame press conference.

“I may get fired today,” Swinney said. “Graham’s sitting in the back, back there, so I don’t know. I can’t say I’d blame him.”

“I literally thought I was getting fired,” Swinney continued, talking about the 2010 season, “and [former Clemson AD] Terry Don Phillips hugged me, and he said, ‘I believe in you more now than I ever did, and we’re going to get this thing fixed, and you just keep being who you are.’ That was a really low, low, low, walking off the field that day.”

With Saturday’s loss to Duke, Clemson has now lost four home games for the first time since 1998.

The loss extends the Tigers’ home losing streak against Power 4 teams to six games, a streak that stretches back more than a year.

“Incredibly disappointing,” Swinney said of this season. “The season’s not over. We’re going to fight and battle and see if we can finish somehow, someway on a positive note. We’ve had 14 great years, but this is definitely the worst we’ve had since [2010].”