Rivals national recruiting analyst Adam Friedman has thoughts on Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, Penn State's issues in big games and a coach shooting himself in the foot.
*****
RUMOR MILL: Power programs hosting key targets
MORE: Five-star Ryan Wingo previews his upcoming decision
FINAL 2023 TEAM RANKINGS: Comprehensive (overall) ranking | High school/JUCO ranking | Transfer portal ranking
CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals100
TRANSFER PORTAL: Latest news | Transfer portal player ranking | Transfer portal team ranking | Transfer Tracker | Message board
*****
DABO SWINNEY IS GETTING WHAT HE WANTED
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney wanted fewer fans and that's what he's getting. Last week on his radio show he suggested his team needed to lose a couple games and "lighten up the bandwagon" so, right on cue, Clemson goes to Miami and loses in double overtime.
Then, to top off his less-than-stellar week, Swinney, in his postgame press conference, threw starting quarterback Cade Klubnik under the bus for botching the final play of the game and followed that up with a off-color joke about Clemson's sport psychologist being on "suicide watch." Swinney apologized for the comment the next day.
Swinney deserves all the credit in the world for what he's built at Clemson and I'm sure he's more frustrated than any of Clemson's fans, bandwagon or not. He's the most powerful person and highest-paid employee at Clemson University but all of that could change if his team keeps losing games and fans.
*****
PENN STATE'S FIRST-WORLD PROBLEMS
Watching the Ohio State-Penn State game over the weekend must have been frustrating for Nittany Lions fans. I don't need to lay out all the ugly statistics here but the offensive performance was just not up to par and, at this point in James Franklin's tenure, I'm not sure Penn State fans can expect much better.
The Nittany Lions have amassed plenty of talent, so much so that NFL scouts are saying they have a more talented roster than Ohio State. So what's wrong with Penn State? Why can't they break through? Every Penn State fan is asking themselves the same question.
The simplest answer is usually the right one so, given all the success Franklin and his staff have had on the field and on the recruiting trail, it's fair to say Franklin and company are just excellent scouts, great recruiters and beat the teams they're supposed to beat. That's it. Penn State fans expecting more are just setting themselves up to be let down.
This is the team that signed, developed and produced NFL stars Micah Parsons and Saquon Barkley. Every year Penn State signs at least 11 players rated as four-star prospects or better and more than seven of them are ranked in the Rivals250. But that's not equating to big wins on the field.
Beating the teams you're supposed to beat will get you to high-end bowl games, plenty of job security and more than likely it'll land you in the expanded 12 team College Football Playoff. But winning games without being able to just overwhelm the opponent with talent is a coaching problem, not a program infrastructure problem.
*****
WHAT IS LINCOLN RILEY DOING?
The decision by USC head coach Lincoln Riley to not make any players available to the media after the Trojans' loss to Utah over the weekend is baffling. What is he worried about? Is he scared his players will start pointing fingers? Does he think they'll say something immature? Does he think they might call out the coaching staff? Surely whatever the players say can't be any worse than what the media has been writing about your team lately.
Caleb Williams and MarShawn Lloyd are two players I've interviewed dozens of times and each of them, even as high schoolers, conducted themselves professionally regardless of the result of a game. So is he trying to protect the players by not subjecting them to the media? I'm not sure these guys need protection from the media, given how many interviews they've done. It seems like this only hurts Riley's reputation, makes the players less prepared for the NFL media environment and contradicts the very case USC is trying to make to keep its athletes from being considered employees.
