Clemson’s Dabo Swinney Takes Blame for UGA Loss: ‘Sometimes You Get Your Butt Kicked’ | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Dabo Swinney didn’t beat around the bush after No. 14 Clemson lost to No. 1 Georgia 34-3 on Saturday.

The Tigers head coach took the blame and admitted that he and his team just didn’t have it in their season opener.

“When you get beat like that, that’s on the head coach,” Swinney said, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. “Complete ownership of an absolute crap second half. Sometimes you get your butt kicked and we did today.”

Swinney even apologized to the Clemson faithful for the Tigers’ pitiful performance to start the season.

“Sorry for our fans. I feel terrible for them,” Swinney said, per Dellenger. “We didn’t get it done for them.”

It was only four years ago that Clemson reached its last College Football Playoff and was a perennial contender for a national championship. The last few seasons have seen the Tigers slowly decline, with last year’s 9-4 finish marking their lowest win total since 2010.

Many have attributed that to Swinney’s approach to the transfer portal, which most programs have used to their advantage in recent years. Clemson brought in no players from the portal over the offseason and has landed just two transfers over the last three seasons.

Swinney has in the past defended his lack of transfer portal activity, and he did so again on Saturday.

“People say whatever they are going to say,” he said, per Dellenger. “Doesn’t matter what I say. We do what’s best for Clemson. When you lose like this, they’ve got every right to say whatever they want and write whatever you want.”

There’s no questioning Swinney’s skills as a recruiter. His recruiting classes have ranked 11th or better over the last three years, per 247Sports Composite. But when the rest of the top contenders in the country are getting experienced players from other schools—in some cases from Clemson—relying completely on recruiting can only get you so far.

Swinney and Clemson faced arguably the best team in the country in Week 1, but things don’t get much easier moving forward. The Tigers will face an App State team known for beating ranked teams on the road next week before taking on No. 24 NC State in Week 4 following a bye week.