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Dabo Swinney addresses Clemson staff changes, rips defense after Tigers flop vs Penn State
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- Dabo Swinney addresses Clemson staff changes, rips defense after Tigers flop vs Penn State
With one final chance to end 2025 in a better way than it started, Clemson football fell short.
The Tigers (7-6) lost 22-10 to Penn State on Dec. 27 in the Pinstripe Bowl in a frigid, snowy Yankee Stadium. The loss snapped a nation-leading 14-year streak with at least one postseason win and marks the most losses for the program since 2010.
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This season was just the second time since coach Dabo Swinney was hired in 2009 that Clemson won less than nine games. He was asked if he already has in mind his next steps as far as his coaching staff and where Clemson goes as a program.
"It's really just more about big picture of our issues from the season," Swinney said. "I know what's real. I know what's not ... I have a good perspective when it comes to things that are in our control, and what we've got to do better."
The Tigers missed the ACC Championship and College Football Playoff despite being favorites entering 2025 and ranked No. 6 in the country. Clemson started the season 3-5 and finished 1-3 in games decided by seven or fewer points.
"We've got great people," Swinney said. "I love all the people on my staff, but you evaluate everything, that's just a part of our business, and it's a part of the end of the season, as you step back, and I don't make emotional decisions."
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The Tigers were without 29 players through injuries and opt-outs. But the Nittany Lions (7-6) won without 34 of their own players, including four of five starting offensive linemen and Kaytron Allen , who ranks 10th nationally with 1,303 rushing yards.
Penn State's defense allowed an average of 334.3 yards per game but Clemson had 236, including 43 rushing yards.
"Evaluate everything, make good decisions based on what my perspective is," Swinney said. "Change what I need to change, stay the course on what I believe we need to stay the course on. It's never as good as you think, it's never as bad as you think."
Tom Allen completed his first season as defensive coordinator after coming over from Penn State, with his unit eighth in the ACC with 353.3 yards allowed.
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Clemson's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Garrett Riley was hired in 2023, and has been involved in both coaching searches and firing rumors this year. Clemson ranked 10th in the ACC in scoring offense (28.7 points) and seventh in total offense (405.3 yards).
Before the bowl game Riley said he was focused on Clemson.
Dabo Swinney unhappy with Clemson defense vs Penn State
Allen's group took a chunk of the blame from Swinney in the Pinstripe Bowl.
"Defensively just really poor," Swinney said. "I mean, we played really good the first 29 minutes of the game, and from one minute left in the first half through the end of the game, really poor."
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Clemson scored just three points until the fourth quarter and there were at least seven dropped passes.
Trebor Pena broke through two Clemson defenders for a 73-yard touchdown catch to give Penn State a 15-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Then after Clemson got within 15-10 on Adam Randall 's 2-yard run, Penn State went down the field and scored on a wide-open 11-yard pass from Ethan Grunkemeyer .
"The critical stops, we didn't get them," Swinney said. "I mean, like Keystone Cops out there just banging into each other, knocking each other off, it's hard to watch."
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Penn State had five plays with 15 or more passing yards and went 11-of-19 on third down, with Swinney saying his third down defense was "horrendous."
"So that's kind of been the story of our defense all year, which has been really poor pass defense," Swinney said.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com . Follow her on X @Lulukesin and Bluesky @bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dabo Swinney reacts to Clemson loss, poor defense vs Penn State
