The Clemson-Ole Miss rift is slowly getting the whole of college football involved.
A house divided, but involved.
Many stand with Dabo Swinney for audaciously calling out the alleged tampering from Ole Miss's Pete Golding.
Others think he went too far, and only did so because he's never gotten his hands dirty — unlike most other head coaches, per insiders.
Paul Finebaum is blowing smoke at this point
Yet, there would be hardly anyone from either side of the debate that would agree with what Paul Finebaum had to say about Swinney.
“There’s Dabo Swinney, who just does the wrong thing at the wrong time. He’s looking more distant, more out of touch, more antiquated than he has ever been,"
Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.
“And for a guy that just finished an absolutely miserable season, it doesn’t help him, because he is years removed from a legitimate national championship contender. Last year, being in the playoffs was more of an outlier than it was reality.”
Paul Finebaum provided his thoughts on Dabo Swinney’s presser against Ole Miss:
— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) January 26, 2026
Finebaum says Swinney comes off “whiny” and “out of touch” in his tampering rant.
He believes Swinney should’ve left the issue in the hands of administrators.
🎥: @macandcube pic.twitter.com/4zBIlwgLr7
If anything, it sounds like FInebaum's opinion is the antiquated one here.
Swinney going nuclear on tampering allegation, or 'Tampering 301' as he called it, was different than all other tampering rumors or allegations.
But Swinney brought receipts, and put the NCAA on notice with them.
Earlier the NCAA used to take its sweet time, and eventually, the case would close. But this time, they took all but mere hours to release an official statement on it.
Ole Miss might get a stricter investigation, but Swinney's 8-minute blunt rant laid down the law and then some, as he all but forced the NCAA to enforce it.
“Everybody knows Clemson started the season in the top five and ended up nowhere, and I just think it hurts him more than it has in the past.
"And it really doesn’t matter what he says. He just, he still comes off the same way — he comes off whiny and out of touch.”
The SEC mouthpiece can call Swinney whiny all he wants, but his opinion will hold ground only until the NCAA decides to drop the hammer with a full-fledged investigation.