By admin 
Paul Finebaum and Dabo Swinney have a lot in common. Both men like to talk – a lot.
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Ahead of the 2026 college football season, Swinney went viral for his comment on Clemson’s roster. The Tigers head coach, who has won two national championships, claims that he has a roster of “nobodies” right now. It’s up to his players to become noteworthy this fall.
“Everybody’s just working,” Swinney said. “We’re just a bunch of nobodies. We’ll see if anybody becomes somebody as we play some games.”
Clemson is coming off a disappointing 7-6 season in 2025. Clemson entered the 2025 season ranked No. 4 overall in the preseason Top 25 rankings. The Tigers went on to become one of the most-disappointing teams in the country.
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Finebaum isn’t a fan right now, though.
The ESPN college football analyst went off on Swinney during Friday’s guest appearance on The Mac & Bone Show over on Sports Radio WFNZ in Charlotte.
Finebaum attacks Swinney over ‘bunch of nobodies’ comment
Finebaum thinks that Swinney needs to change his ways.
“Dabo Swinney thought he knew better than any coach in college football and kept doing his old way, and it didn’t work,” Finebaum said. “He finally adapted, but the problem is others moved ahead of him … He did the stupid typical Dabo ‘that we’re a bunch of nobodies.’ Last year, Clemson had arguably the most talented team in the country, and they did nothing with it. They went 7-6. I still can’t quite figure it out.”
Finebaum has been fed up with Swinney throughout the offseason.
“Somebody should dunk him (Swinney) in that Raising Cane’s sauce, because I’m getting so exasperated listening to Dabo tell us how great he used to be,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s Get Up. “They’re not great anymore. You don’t hear Brady talking about his Super Bowls, or LeBron, or any of the greats…Dabo is stuck on stupid right now trying to convince us that his program is still legitimate. It’s not.”
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It’s up to Swinney to prove Finebaum wrong this year.
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This story was originally published August 17, 2026 at 8:00 PM.