Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney may have no love for rival Florida State, but he has plenty of sympathy for them in the face of their exclusion from the College Football Playoff.
Speaking to ESPN’s David Hale, Swinney said he felt bad for the FSU players and coaches over their situation. He said that the College Football Playoff is a flawed system, but it’s the one they have right now. Swinney lamented that the CFP essentially boiled down FSU’s playoff potential to the availability of their quarterback rather than the entirety of the team.
“I feel so bad for those players and coaches,” said Swinney. “It’s a flawed system but it’s what we got at this time. Just hate that they made it all about one player and minimized the impact and importance of all those other players. Football is a team sport.”
Florida State fans were impressed that Swinney would speak so positively about their team despite their in-conference rivalry.
FWIW I asked Dabo his thoughts on the FSU snub: “I feel so bad for those players and coaches. It’s a flawed system but it’s what we got at this time. Just hate that they made it all about one player and minimized the impact and importance of all those other players. Football is a…
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) December 7, 2023
“Better than what I was expecting from him. I’ll take it,” one user replied.
“Even a stopped clock is right twice a day,” another joked.
“Rare Dabo W take,” a third user wrote.
Were his own team in such a position – and they almost were in the 2020 season – he probably would have had about the same reaction as FSU’s program did.