CLEMSON, SC - OCTOBER 07: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers walks the sidelines during the Tigers' game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Memorial Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images)When Clemson narrowly escaped Chapel Hill with a win over the Tar Heels in Week 5, the world came crashing down on Tigers’ coach Dabo Swinney. The media had a field-day with Clemson, citing its reign was already over. As a result, Swinney fired back at the media multiple times feeling his team was receiving unwarranted disrespect.
Since Week 5, the Tigers have been absolutely dominant. And at this point, no one is questioning Clemson anymore.
But for some reason, Swinney continues to voice his frustration for how the media perceives his team. This coming despite the fact the media is dishing out nothing but respect for Swinney’s program.
ESPN’s Chris Fowler is one of those national analysts who has the upmost respect and admiration for Clemson and its head coach. But Fowler is tired of Swinney continuing to harp the same, old message regarding the media’s disrespect for Clemson.
“Dabo, I love you and respect you, but this whole idea that the world is against Clemson,” Fowler said on his “Nightcap Recap” on Instagram, via 247Sports. “Nobody respects Clemson. Keep them out of the playoff … Everyone knows Clemson is really good … No one is trying to keep Clemson out of the playoff … LSU and Ohio State, in far more difficult leagues, are wrapping up nice quality wins against two good teams. It’s respect to those two teams, not disrespect to Clemson.”
As Fowler points out, the comparisons of Clemson to teams like Ohio State and LSU has much more to do with scheduling. The ACC is widely regarded as the weakest Power 5 conference in the country.
The question is, will the Tigers’ weak schedule come back to haunt them when facing more tested teams? Only time will tell.
