Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is throwing shade at the Ohio State Buckeyes to try to prop up the Tigers this offseason
We’re in the offseason and that means coaches have more time to make podcast appearances. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney used one of his latest to throw some shade at the Ohio State Buckeyes.
In today’s era of college football, you have to spend big if you want to be in the mix to win a national title. Ohio State’s 2024 roster cost a pretty penny and they were able to win it all. The 2025 team cost even more put together and the Buckeyes came up short.
Spending in the NIL era is something some teams can do better than others. Ohio State can keep up with the heavy spenders, but a place like Clemson hasn’t. We’ve seen the Tigers decline in recent years, they went 7-6 in 2025 and they’ve lost four or more games in the last three seasons.
Clemson hasn’t been the same since 2020 when Ohio State blew them out 49-28 in the College Football Playoff. The Tigers’ head coach recently opened up about how Clemson operated, and he threw shade at Ohio State to make it happen.
Dabo Swinney is trying to knock Ohio State for what Clemson can’t do
Swinney recently appeared on the Always College Football podcast with Greg McElroy and opened up about the NIL era.
“It just is what it is, we don’t have the same alumni base that some places have,” Swinney said. “We don’t have some of the things that some of the things that some of the schools have that we’ve played over the years. That’s just the way it is.”
Here’s where it gets interesting, and probably rather uncalled for.
“We’re 3-1 against Ohio State. We’re 4-2 against Notre Dame. I mean, Notre Dame has their own TV station” Swinney went on. “They make their own rules. They print their own money. They got like their own money machine in the backyard or something.”
There you have it. Swinney is propping up three wins he had against Ohio State during the 2019, 2016, and 2013 seasons. Each of those was before the NIL era changed how the sport really operates. We’ve watched the College Football Playoff expand to 12 teams a year ago, but Clemson was still unable to win.
To be honest, Swinney’s comments come off as him complaining about what Clemson can’t do these days. The Clemson head coach has had major success at the college football level, but it hasn’t happened since the sport has changed. People have taken note too, which is why we get comments like the one Swinney made about Ohio State and Notre Dame.