Dabo Swinney reprimanded, Clemson fined by ACC for criticizing officiating after Duke loss
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Dabo Swinney and Clemson were punished by the ACC after Swinney’s comments following Duke‘s 46-45 win over the Tigers on Saturday.
Swinney was critical of a controversial pass interference call on a 4th-and-10 from the Tigers’ 18 with less than a minute to go. The Blue Devils then scored a touchdown on the next play, followed by a two-point conversion that stood as the game winner.
“That’s one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in a game ever in my entire coaching career. Ever,” Swinney said.
On Sunday, the ACC announced that Clemson had been fined $10,000 for Dabo Swinney‘s comments, which will go into a postgraduate scholarship fund. Swinney received a public reprimand for his remarks.
Clemson was a Top 5 preseason team, with Cade Klubnik considered a possible Heisman Trophy contender.
Instead, the Tigers have seen their most disappointing campaign in some time. It began with an opening-season home loss to LSU, touching off a 1-3 start. After wins at North Carolina and Boston College, the Tigers fell to SMU and Duke at Death Valley.
Clemson will need to win 3 of its remaining 4 games to keep alive a bowl streak that’s lasted since 2025. It faces Florida State, Louisville, Furman, and South Carolina to close out the year.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
