Dabo Swinney Will No Longer Take Phone Calls For His Radio Show. So Was 'Tyler From Spartanburg To Blame'?

It's been an interesting year for Clemson football fans, as Dabo Swinney works to get the Tigers back into the conversation around the College Football Playoff. But if you thought you would be able to connect with Swinney during the season on his coaches show, it won't be by telephone. 

Maybe you remember the story from last season. As Clemson was coming off another loss to put them 4-4 on the year, Dabo Swinney went into his weekly call-in show knowing that the fan base wasn't happy about the current state of the program at the time. 

One ‘fan’ in particular had an interesting opinion on the Clemson coach, and the amount of money he was making per year to coach the Tigers. It was ‘Tyler From Spartanburg’ who garnered national attention for his question as to why Dabo Swinney was worth the $11.5 million per season he was being paid. 

Now remember, these call-in shows are a crapshoot, and most of the time the producer for the show tries to weed-out the ones who are going to ask a question that would put the head coach on the spot, or at least make things extremely uncomfortable. 

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 11: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers attends media day for the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 11, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

‘Tyler From Spartanburg’ Sneaks Buy Radio Producer Most Likely

Well, I would dare to say that ‘Tyler’ gave the producer a fake question while calling in, before being placed on live radio with the Clemson head coach. But when Dabo was asked why he was worth his salary, the Clemson head coach gave us one of the best rants we've heard in a long time, and that's saying something for these types of shows. 

"You make $11.5 million a year. That’s second in college football, if I’m not mistaken. I’m curious why that salary has led to a 4-4 [record]? … After that 2018 national title, something changed. And there seems to be a lot of arrogance that came in. There’s a lot of friends and family," ‘Tyler From Spartanburg’ said during his question. "I mean three of the 10 on-field football coaches are external, experienced hires. Everyone else is an internal hire that had no experience before or was a former player or friend. So I’m curious, why are we paying you $11.5 million to go 4-4? And it’s not just this year."

This is when Dabo Swinney delivered a perfectly executed response, in my opinion. 

"I’ve listened to enough of you, Tyler. You can have all your opinions all you want. I don’t know how old you are, don’t really care. But let me tell you something, we won 11 games last year. And you’re part of the problem, to be honest with you. Because that is part of the problem. It’s people like you, that all you do… the expectation is greater than the appreciation. And that’s the problem."

Dabo Swinney Will No Longer Take Calls For His Coaches Show

Now, according to Chapel Fowler, the ‘question’ from the caller was not the ONLY reason why Dabo Swinney would no longer take Live calls during his show, but he was part of the reason. 

Chapel Fowler tweeted that the head coach would now take questions that were submitted through text message and email, which means Dabo Swinney will have time to think about the question before giving an answer. 

"It's official: Clemson FB coach Dabo Swinney will no longer take live calls from fans on his weekly radio show The new format is called "Tiger Sports Hour with Dabo Swinney." Fans will able to submit questions to him via text/email. First show tonight at 8 on @1055TheROAR"

I can understand a lot of this, given how wild some of these shows can get. If you're looking for a good way to spend an hour, just find a coaches show around college football following a bad loss. It's absolute gold most of the time, especially if the callers are on the air live. 

As for Dabo Swinney and the folks at Clemson, they have decided to go a different direction, which we've seen other coaches in college football do. 

But, it certainly won't be the same, thanks in-part to ‘Tyler From Spartanburg’.