Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney unleashed his fury against college football officials after the game against Duke ended in a 46-45 loss. The game had several controversial calls, leading to Swinney asking for officials to be held accountable for poor decision-making.
Swinney blasted the officials after the game, calling them “worst ever” and for that he even received a fine of $10,000 on Sunday. Despite the fine, Swinney continues to double down on his comments, asking for a proper system to be made so that they can be held accountable just like everyone else is on the field.
“In this profession, coaches get crucified, fined. Players get crucified, held to this unrealistic accountability standard, but refs have zero accountability,” Swinney said. “Well, they do, but it’s behind a curtain. They get to go home and drink a beer and, you know, get on with their life and just leave the carnage left behind that affects a lot of people, people losing jobs.”
Swinney cited NFL’s handling of officials, asking for a proper system to be made of officials instead of part-time workers.
“That system needs to change,” Swinney said. “There should be, first of all, with what’s at stake and what’s going on, like the NFL, they’re not part-time refs, like they need to be full-time refs, and it needs to be a job, and there should be one leader and one voice.
What Call in the Clemson Game Made Dabo Swinney Frustrated with the Officials?
The dramatic 46-45 game came down to a contentious pass-interference call with under a minute remaining. Clemson was leading 45-38 with 43 seconds remaining when the Tigers stopped Blue Devils’ on a fourth down.
However, the referees charged Clemson’s Avieon Terrell for pass-interference, as Duke’s offense stayed on the field. Duke then went on to make a touchdown pass in the very next play followed by a two-point conversion that won them the game.
“Some critical penalties,” Swinney said after the loss. “I don’t even know what to say about the last call. Y’all saw it. It shouldn’t come down to that. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game, but that’s one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in a game, ever, in my entire coaching career. Ever.”
It remains to be seen if the NCAA towards building a system in the ever changing landscape of college football.
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