Rich Eisen Blasts Clemson and Dabo Swinney for Lack of Accountability

On Monday’s edition of The Rich Eisen Show, host Rich Eisen and his co-host, Syracuse alum Chris Brockman, spent time dissecting the Clemson Tigers' devastating loss to the Orange this past weekend.

The conversation quickly turned from the upset itself to how Dabo Swinney handled his postgame press conference. Eisen drew sharp comparisons to other top-tier programs and questioned the message Clemson's head coach tried to send.

"When your school wins a game that nobody expects them to win and leaves the opposition in a full-on flame situation. You leave them in a fetal position and all sorts of finger-pointing and recriminations are happening," Eisen emphasized. "That happened last year with my Michigan Wolverines. If this analogy were the same, though, Clemson would go on to win the National Championship."

In Eisen's next point, he may have pulled the wrong clip, using Swinney's remarks from the Georgia Tech game instead of Syracuse, but his broader point still landed.

The legendary commentator argued that Dabo's message lacked humility, and just a week later, the Tigers were humbled on the field once again. 

The proof is always in the results, and Swinney's success before the transfer portal and NIL era isn't in question. However, in today's game, the flaws in Clemson's system are harder to ignore, and the lack of accountability is even tougher to overlook.

"I think [Dabo] realized he needed to come back and rally his troops by saying, 'I don't think we're going to be 6-6.' But to sit there and say 'Why are you holding us to a different standard because we've won at least once recently' is just not the way of the world," he said bluntly. "Ryan Day must be sitting in Columbus, going, 'What? Because I don't lose Big-10 games like ever except for the ones my fan base really wants to win the most, recently.' Hey, listen, we've won around here. Go criticize a program that hasn't won in 2020 or 2019. Like, that just doesn't cut it."

Eisen doubled down by pointing out how quickly the narrative around Clemson has shifted. What began as a season full of confidence and national contender expectations has unraveled into frustration and contradictions. For Eisen, that shift only underscored why Swinney's defense of the program rang hollow.

"Certainly, when that's not what the rallying cry was three weeks ago. It was like we're opening the season and we're going to crush it and we're a top-10 team," he explained. "But now it's like, wait a minute. Why is everybody so upset around here that the season's totally on the rocks? We won here six years ago. That's just not how it works and [Dabo] knows that's not how it works."