Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, trying to salvage what’s left of this season after Saturday’s loss to SMUsaid there is “no quit” in his team and touted his “credibility” after 18 years at the school.
The Tigers, who started the season with a No. 4 ranking and national championship aspirations, fell to 3-4 with their 35-24 home loss to the Mustangs.
“We hopefully have earned a lot of credibility around here,” said Swinney, who has won two national championships and nine ACC titles in his time at Clemson. “There’s been a lot of great years, a lot of great years. But this is a tough one.
“We’re going to try to fight our way and finish this thing the very best that we can. And then we’ll start over just like we do every year. You know, that’s what we do every year. We have a great year, we have a tough year, you know, we start over and then you go back to work.”
Clemson has had only one losing season since 1998, when the Tigers were 3-8 under Tommy West. That came in 2010, when Swinney and the Tigers finished 6-7 after losing in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
The loss to SMU on Saturday was the Tigers’ fifth straight against power conference teams — the first time that’s happened at Clemson since the 1970-71 seasons.
“I take the good with the bad,” Swinney said. “I don’t like it, but that’s just my perspective. And I know something good will come from it. I promise you, though, I’ve never worked harder. And I’m going to continue to do everything I can, and we’ll be back.
“We’ll win more championships. We’ll win more championships. All right? I promise you that. 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.”
Swinney, who has an 183-51 overall record, is in the midst of a 10-year, $115 million extension and would command a $60 million buyout if the program were to make a change. He understands fans’ frustrations and wants to fix it.
“I don’t blame them [fans]. I’m disappointed too. We’re all disappointed. We’re incredibly frustrated,” Swinney said. “But that’s where we are, and I take full responsibility for that. But all I can do is keep working and see if we can find a way to win the next game.
“… We got to pick ourselves up and keep going. That’s what we’re going to do. There ain’t no quit in this bunch. That’s one thing I’ll say about this team. It hurts, but there’s no quit. We’re going to fight our butts off to the end. And then we’ll count them all up, and then we’ll — you know, it’s a season. And right now it’s not been anywhere near the season that we want.”
Clemson, which played SMU without first-team preseason All-America quarterback Cade Klubnik (ankle), was outgained 139-35 on the ground by the Mustangs. Christopher Vizzina made his first start Saturday, but Swinney expects Klubnik to return after the bye week.
“It’s jarring, and it’s disappointing,” Swinney said. “We have to get better.
“… Me personally, I feel like I’m kind of living 2010 all over again. That’s what I feel like. We just can’t seem to quite put it together and get out of our way. But it’s football. It’s football. But we’ll keep going, we’ll bounce up, we’ll pick ourselves up.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
