Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney loves the Tigers fan base, but he made some things clear during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
While Swinney brags about the Clemson fan base with a great appreciation for them, not all are good for the program. There are some Clemson fans who cause more harm to the program than good.
“I have great appreciation for our fans. They are amazing,” Swinney said. A lot of the people who do all of the complaining. They are part of the problem. They really are. If you are a recruit sitting out there and you see people ripping your coaches, everybody is terrible. That is not helpful.”
“It does not matter what you have done. Everybody can have a bad moment.”
It has been a rough year for the Tigers, who sit at 4-4 heading into a Week 10 matchup against Notre Dame. Clemson has to win two of their final four games to qualify for a bowl game, which is a serious concern at this point in the season.
After so much success, Swinney believes some fans forgot how to appreciate a win.
“I am talking about the loud majority,” Swinney said. “Most of our fans are amazing. They really are. It is the loud majority that really have no clue how hard it is to win.
“Again, we have won so much, and listen, that (negativity) can creep into your players, too. It is that rat poison of how good you are and what you are supposed to do, this and that, and then all of a sudden it does not go the way you want it to, so it can creep in both ways.”
Whether fans like it or not, Swinney is sticking to his guns. As he said, winning should be fun, not a relief. He is going to continue to be convicted in his beliefs.
“It should not be a relief to win. It should be fun to win,” Swinney said. “I have never flinched. I am sitting here, not because I listened to all the people, all the criticism, all the people that want me to do this or hire this guy or that guy. If it does not work then I have nobody to blame but myself.
“I am always going to do what I am convicted in. People say I am stubborn, but I say I am convicted in my beliefs. There are not enough people that are not convicted in their beliefs in my opinion, but that is another topic for another day.”