Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney acknowledges that the Tigers’ current 5-3 record is not where they want it to be.
However, following Saturday’s 36-24 victory over Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla., Swinney expressed confidence that his program is headed back in the right direction.
“Our record isn’t what we want it to be, but this team’s getting better, and they’ve been getting better really all year,” Swinney said. “And sometimes it doesn’t always show up the way we might want it to, but these kids are together. They prepare the right way. They play the right way.”
Swinney believes his team is showing the heart, spirit and potential needed to finish the 2026 season strong, and that the future for the Tigers is bright.
Addressing his program’s trajectory, Swinney emphasized that the Tigers are “building our way back to the top” — and committed to doing it “the Clemson way.”
“I wish we had a couple more wins, but I like what I see with this team and their spirit and their heart and the potential that we have to not only have a really good finish this year, but to really build something special, as we build our way back to the top at Clemson,” Swinney said.
“Because that’s what we’re doing. We’re building our way back to the top, and we’re doing it the Clemson way. The right way.”
When asked to expand on what he meant by building the team back “the right way” to the top, Swinney explained that it means “doing what I believe is right for Clemson. Being me.”
According to Swinney, that means staying true to himself and running his program with “conviction.”
“Be me. Just be me. That’s what it means,” Swinney said. “I have a program that has conviction in the way we do things. Serves these kids’ hearts. Develops them as men. Just continue to win the right way, and that’s all I know how to do is be me. And if that ain’t good enough, it ain’t good enough. But I believe in who we are at Clemson, the way we do things. We’ve got great kids on this team. We have great kids.”
Swinney, who has led the Tigers to seven College Football Playoff appearances, nine ACC titles and two national championships, has plenty of faith that Clemson is on a path toward re-establishing itself among college football’s elite.
“We’re going to continue to recruit the right kind of guys that fit our program, that care about the place, and we’re going to retain guys,” Swinney said. “We’re going to graduate guys, and we’re going to build back to the top. Been there many times.”
Swinney’s team, which improved to 3-2 in ACC play with the win over FSU, returns to the field next Saturday when it faces Syracuse at JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. Kickoff is set for noon on ESPN2.