The feud between Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney and ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum hasn’t really escalated, but we do have the latest development in it.
To briefly recap, Swinney ranted about a perceived bias against his team and the ACC in general from the college football world following Clemson’s win Saturday over South Carolina. He praised the Tigers but said they have to be perfect, unlike some other teams, to remain in contention for the College Football Playoff, calling it “the dadgumest thing.”
Tuesday, Finebaum slammed Swinney over his remarks, calling the defending national championship coach “the most annoying winner in all of sports.” He criticized the program for its weak schedule, the obvious negative in an otherwise strong playoff resume, and said the Tigers won’t play “a legitimate team” until the playoff semifinal game later this month. He also said Swinney “can’t keep his trap shut” and needs someone to “send him to timeout” with a pacifier.
Well, Swinney was asked about Finebaum’s criticism and ad hominem attack.
“I hate I missed it,” he said (just after the 13:30 mark in the video below). “I’m sure it was riveting.”
But Swinney didn’t actually escalate the feud. He offered a folksy, quintessential Dabo response to it, starting off saying Finebaum is just doing his job and ending with an argument for adult nap time.
“Paul’s great at what he does. I’m not gonna dislike somebody ’cause he’s great at his job. A lot of people don’t like me ’cause I’m good at my job or because I wear this logo. They don’t know me as a person. They just don’t like me ’cause I’m passionate about doing a good job. He works for the SEC. … That’s his job. I would never be upset by a person because he does a great job. I mean, Paul Finebaum is great at what he does.”
Swinney also said much of Finebaum’s job is also to stir the pot and create “great conversation and great drama,” which he “does an awesome job” of. He continued:
“We’re the Red Sox, he’s the Yankees. You’re not going to have a Yankees guy stand up and talk great things about the Red Sox. That’s not what he’s paid to do.”
And then he went all in on the idea of adult nap time, recalling his life in first grade with his Happy Days lunchbox, a bologna sandwich and a mat on which to nap.
“I’d like some time out. I’d like to take a nap. Y’all remember first grade? I loved that. … We should have adult time out time. Let’s just all bring a mat, take a nap and be good. I never had a pacifier though, so I don’t know how that’d work out.”
Wednesday, Finebaum returned to Get Up and responded to Swinney’s response: “I’m speechless. First of all, you have to give him credit. … I can’t really be upset. I love what he did because he embraced the conversation, which is different than almost any college or pro [coach].”
Clemson will play No. 23 Virginia at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in the ACC championship game. The four College Football Playoff teams will be announced Sunday.
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