Paul Finebaum is back at it with Clemson, and this time he’s trying to wave it off as nothing more than a casual jab.
On Monday’s edition of The Paul Finebaum Show, Finebaum addressed the latest round of Clemson chatter after he took another shot at the Tigers during SEC Media Days. Asked by Brooks Austin who the most annoying fan base in college football was, Finebaum didn’t hesitate to go after Clemson fans again.
He later downplayed the remark, saying, "It was a throwaway line. Didn't really mean anything by it.
I was asked a question by Brooks. So, Clemson Nation is in meltdown because they have nothing to really rally around.
They've become an average program," Finebaum said. "They're living in the past, and I think you know all the rest."
That came on the heels of a stretch in which Finebaum has already labeled Swinney insufferable, called Clemson fans "absurd", and now described the Tigers as "an average program." For a fan base that’s used to hearing from him, the tone has gotten sharper, not softer.
Finebaum’s long-running disdain for Clemson has been easy to track. He grew up in Memphis, graduated from Tennessee, and built his early career covering Alabama and Auburn in Birmingham before his profile exploded with the launch of the SEC Network 12 summers ago. Since then, his brand has grown right alongside his criticism of Clemson.
Maybe it’s all part of the act. Maybe not. Either way, the pattern is hard to ignore.
And Clemson, for its part, could use something to hang on the wall right now. The Tigers need a strong season, because otherwise Finebaum and plenty of others will have a field day with a program they’d love to see tumble.
College sports can swing fast, and Clemson has already lived through one major rise under Swinney. The question now is whether the Tigers can spark another one before the noise gets louder.
There’s still a path for that. Clemson plays only eight ACC games this season, and outside of a home meeting with Miami, the Tigers appear to be better than most of what’s on the conference schedule. They still have to go to Baton Rouge to face LSU, and they’ll need to keep South Carolina in check, but a playoff run remains in play.
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Now, there is real concern around his status after reports from NFL Network insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo surfaced during Saints training camp. Tests are still ongoing, but the uncertainty alone is enough to put Clemson fans on edge, since any significant setback for Bresee would be a tough blow for a player whose NFL path was still very much on the rise. [Read more 🡒]
Dabo Swinney Just Entered A Clemson Debate Fans Cant Ignore
Dabo Swinneys place in the Clemson conversation got a fresh jolt on a recent episode of The Joel Klatt Show, where the Fox analyst sorted college football coaches into pressure tiers and put Swinney in a category all by himself. Klatts label was not a dismissal so much as a reminder of how the standard has shifted around Clemson, where the expectations remain high even as the sport around it keeps changing.
The backdrop is hard to ignore: Clemson has not finished in the top 10 since Trevor Lawrence turned pro, and the ACC now feels more crowded than it once did. Klatt pointed to Miami as the game that may say the most about the Tigers path this fall, which only adds to the sense that Swinney is coaching under a microscope even in a conference setup that looks friendlier than some fans may want to admit. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Is Getting Overlooked Again Despite Serious Preseason Respect
Even with a preseason pedigree that would make most ACC programs happy, Clemson is still being treated like a team that has something to prove. The leagues 2026 preseason poll slots the Tigers fourth, behind Miami, SMU and Louisville, even though Clemson drew the second-most first-place votes in the conference and placed four players on the Preseason All-ACC team in Bryant Wesco Jr., Will Heldt, Sammy Brown and Ashton Hampton.
The individual respect is real, especially on a defense headlined by Brown and Heldt, while Wesco gives the offense a proven playmaker after finishing 2025 strong despite a neck injury that cost him the second half of the season. Still, the broader projection leaves Clemson in an unusual spot: admired enough to fill out the all-conference team, but not quite trusted to sit near the top of the league race when the votes were counted. [Read more 🡒]