The Clemson Tigers were one of the top teams in college football last season, but they were unable to secure a bid in the College Football Playoff after suffering two losses during the regular season – one to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and one to the South Carolina Gamecocks. And one prominent ESPN analyst thinks one coaching decision from Dabo Swinney is to blame.
ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill said on his Crain & Company show this week that he thinks Dabo Swinney cost Clemson a chance to compete for a national title by his loyalty to starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei.
“I said this about D.J. Uiagalelei – I felt Dabo Swinney cost his football team a College Football Playoff berth with his loyalty to DJ,” Luginbill said on the show, according to The Clemson Insider. “And at the end of the day, I love that, but you’ve also got 130 other guys you’ve got to be loyal to, and it’s not just about one guy. I think if anything, he may have learned off of the DJ situation is he can’t allow this to continue to happen and is gonna have to make some tough decisions, and he made a really good one here.”
Swinney did eventually bench Uiagalelei in favor of freshman Cade Klubnik for the ACC Championship game and the Orange Bowl, but at that point, it was too late.
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