Dabo Swinney Rips Reporter on Video For Question on Roster After Clemson's Blowout Loss to LSU

Clemson football started the season with a 51-10 road loss to LSU on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Chapel Fowler of The State asked Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney whether he regretted any decisions regarding his offseason roster construction. Swinney provided the following response.

"No, I don't," Swinney said in part. "I don't man. I regret being 0-1 right now. I regret that. But no. Can you ask me that at the end of the season? The season ain't over. I mean, we got one game. We got 11 more. What if we go 11-1? You promise me you'll ask that then? OK, good, I'll answer that."

Swinney kept elaborating on the matter, noting how the season is just one week old (h/t Tony Crumpton of TigerNet).

"We've played one game. Did you play football? Okay, well, they give you 12 games, and at the end of the year, you count them up. That's when those types of questions are fair to me, not after one game to maybe the best team in the country.

"Other people have good teams and coaches and things like that, too. So I give them credit. We've got 11 more games to go battle. We'll count them up. Then you can ask me whatever question you want."

You can look at that interaction two ways.

On one hand, Swinney is right. It is only one week into the season, and Clemson could get it together and finish strong. The Tigers play only one more ranked opponent (albeit a tough one, No. 7 Miami at home on Oct. 3), but they could be playing for a College Football Playoff berth in December in the ACC Championship Game. The season certainly is not over.

On the other hand, Clemson suffered a brutal defeat. After an early Clemson field goal, LSU scored 51 unanswered points before the visitors scored a garbage-time touchdown to help get into double-digit scoring. LSU out-gained Clemson 644-145, including 335 yards passing and 309 yards rushing. The Tigers also had 38 first downs to Clemson's eight.

The Lane Kiffin-led LSU team, powered by 44 transfers, could very well be a national powerhouse now. Still, Clemson could not compete with LSU, and it's fair to wonder whether this roster might be in for a tough 2026.

That said, Clemson has a chance to rewrite the narrative week by week. A home date with Georgia Southern looms Saturday, and then the ACC slate begins on Saturday, Sept. 19 when the Tigers welcome Bill Belichick's UNC squad to Clemson.