Clemson’s Dabo Swinney goes off about officiating again after being fined
Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney wasted no time after officiating again. Two days after being fined $10,000 for criticizing ACC officials during the 46-45 loss to Duke, he wasn’t ready to let go during Tuesday’s press conference. Swinney took on the system as a whole and was only close to contesting ten plays in the postgame report.
“You don’t know anything about it. It’s behind a curtain,” Swinney said. “How dare we have responsibility. “Meanwhile we have gambling problems, people suspended, all that kind of stuff, don’t we? Yeah. I mean, referees are people too. It’s not just about coaches and players.
“If they’re part of the game, then by God, they should be part of the game, and they should be part of the accountability, and they should be part of the consequences, not just behind a curtain of shadows.”
Swinney returned to the ten contested pieces, better “judgment” being necessary.
Dabo Swinney says the state of CFB officials is a bad system that needs to be changed:
“Meanwhile, we have problems with the game and people are suspended…referees are people too. If they are part of the game, they should share in the responsibility and consequences.” pic.twitter.com/6AMqIIp2VV
– Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) November 4, 2025
“There are also absolute failures without consequences,” he said. “We’re allowed to make 10 calls, okay? And so we had a game earlier this year that we lost. I had 14 that I wanted to make, but I could only make 10. I thought eight were wrong, but I came back… ‘Yeah, I missed it.’ Five out of ten were wrong.
“I mean, these are game-changing calls, obvious pass interference, not a call that takes you off the field. But yeah, we just get, ‘this will be worked out with the team’ and yada, yada, yada…ok, yeah…there’s no public accountability.”
Swinney went on to talk about the need for an overhaul of the system. “That needs to change. There needs to be opportunities for challenge and we need full-time officials. If you want to have that type of challenge, you need full-time officials.”
Clemson fell to 3-5 this season. The worst record in eight games since Swinney’s tenure. The Tigers host Florida State in Death Valley on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, ACCN).
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