Dabo Swinney didn’t need much time Tuesday to make his feelings clear about the eligibility mess hanging over Clemson’s season opener at LSU.
With two LSU players - tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris - potentially able to gain clearance through a Thursday hearing in Louisiana, Swinney said the whole situation has crossed into absurd territory.
“I’ll probably get turned in for tampering,” Swinney joked Tuesday.
Wright has been practicing with LSU this week, and both he and Harris are seeking another year of eligibility despite having spent time with a pro team this summer. Swinney, asked whether that bothers him, didn’t soften his answer.
“Rarely am I at a loss for words … it’s kind of embarrassing, honestly,” Swinney said. “It’s just embarrassing that that’s where we are.
I don’t blame the kids, trying to take advantage of the system. But it’s embarrassing for college football.
…
“It’s a joke. We’ve got zero rules.
And when you enforce rules, somebody just goes and finds a judge to say you can’t enforce those rules. Never did I feel like I’d be playing in an era like that, but that’s where we are right now.”
Swinney did not single out LSU coach Lane Kiffin, who has publicly pushed for the players to be eligible after the NCAA changed its rule to allow players a fifth year without grandfathering in players from the 2022 class.
“I’ve lost zero sleep over that,” Swinney said. “I don’t judge anybody. They can do what they want to do.”
He did, though, crack a little on how much film work Clemson has had to do this summer to prepare for LSU’s roster movement. Swinney said the Tigers studied Arizona State for quarterback Sam Leavitt, along with Ole Miss, Wisconsin and other programs. More recently, the focus shifted to the NFL.
“We spent this last week or so studying the Browns, the Cowboys, the Saints and the Bucs,” Swinney said.
On the field, Clemson walks into Saturday’s game at No. 11 LSU as roughly a 10-point underdog. The Tigers are also coming off a disappointing 7-6 season and were unranked in the preseason AP poll.
Swinney also settled the quarterback race, naming senior Christopher Vizzina the starter. Vizzina had been the favorite, but freshman Tait Reynolds pushed him through spring practice and into the summer.
Reynolds, a three-star recruit and the 34th-ranked quarterback in the 2026 class according to the 247Sports composite, missed most of his senior year in Arizona because of a hamstring injury. His dual-threat skill set helped keep the battle alive longer than expected.
“He’s not a mile ahead. But he’s ahead,” Swinney said of Vizzina, who has 105 pass attempts in three seasons.
“And practice matters. There was a time where I really thought Tait had a chance to take the job, and then he had a couple disastrous days, and just looked like a freshman.
But to CV’s credit, CV has just been incredibly steady. He’s put his head down and gone to work.
He got ahead to this point.”
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LSU Is Mourning The Loss Of A True Tigers Football Legend
LSU is remembering one of the most versatile and accomplished figures in its football history after the death of Jerry Stovall at age 85. A standout for the Tigers from 1960 to 1962, Stovall did just about everything on the field, playing multiple positions while building a resume that included unanimous All-American recognition and SEC Player of the Year honors before moving on to a nine-season NFL career.
Stovall eventually came back to Baton Rouge as a coach and later led LSU from 1980 to 1983, earning Coach of the Year honors in 1982 along the way. His death closes the book on a career that connected different eras of Tigers football, from his days as a star player to his return as the man in charge, and his place in program history is secure even as the full extent of his legacy continues to resonate. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Is Suddenly at the Center of an SEC Punishment Debate
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The bigger backdrop here is the SECs own origin story, which was shaped by disputes over those same rules and the tension they created among member schools. However this latest debate plays out, it has put LSU at the center of a broader question about how far the league is willing to go when it believes a program has pushed too far. For now, the uncertainty is the point, and it leaves the Tigers in a spotlight they probably did not want. [Read more 🡒]
Dabo Just Added Real Tension To LSUs Opener With Kiffin
Dabo Swinney spent part of his Sept. 1 press conference adding a little more juice to LSUs season opener, and not by talking up his own Tigers. Clemsons coach took time to praise Lane Kiffin, calling him one of the best coaches in the business and looking back to their first meeting in the mid-2000s, when both were assistants trying to climb the coaching ladder.
For LSU, it adds another layer to an opener that already carries plenty of attention. Swinney also spoke about Kiffins growth away from the field, which only deepens the sense that this matchup is more than just a marquee nonconference game. It will be the first time the two meet as head coaches, and the buildup now has a more personal edge. [Read more 🡒]