Clemson's Dabo Swinney: 'Maybe we need to lose a few games and lighten up the bandwagon'
Dabo Swinney might not be on social media, but he's aware of dissatisfaction from some Clemson football fans over the Tigers' 4-2 start. On his Monday night radio show, "Tiger Calls," Swinney responded to some of the negativity among the fanbase.
"If you don't go undefeated, people say you're losers, that you're terrible," Swinney said. "It's such a terrible mindset. And honestly, maybe we need to lose a few games and lighten up the bandwagon. Sometimes the bandwagon can get a little too full. That's the one good thing about going through a little so-called adversity. You really find out who's with you and who's not."
Swinney's callout of criticism made some unhappy fans angrier. But in his press conference Tuesday, Swinney stood by what he said.
"I don't think anybody's satisfied with 4-2," he said. "I guess nobody has a sense of humor anymore around here. That's just kind of the world we live in .... It's freaking hard to win, and to win consistently is almost impossible. If people don't understand that, I can't help them. I just made a comment of, a little adversity along the way, you hate it, but the one positive is it makes you grow. You also learn who's with you, and that's good.
"I love our fans. Again, 98.5% of them are amazing. But the other 1.5%, they create a lot of the problems. They're part of the problem, not part of the solution ... I've had plenty of criticism along my way, and it's just part of it. I know what's real and what's not real. If anybody doesn't believe in us after what they've been able to witness the last 15 years, they're not going to believe in us. It doesn't matter to me."
Clemson is coming off its open date in Week 7 and travels to face Miami on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ACCN). The Tigers are hoping to avoid losing more than two conference games for the first time since 2010, when they finished 4-4 in ACC play.
Christina Long covers the Clemson Tigers for the Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. You can follow her on Twitter @christinalong00 or email her at [email protected].