Dabo Swinney: 'It's over.' He could be talking about his Clemson career

From news to sports, we help you stay connected to the world around you. www.usatoday.com By Blake Toppmeyer , 2 hours ago BATON ROUGE, LA – The beatdown complete, the only thing left to do was decide what to make of it. Lane Kiffin advised caution, almost as if to say: Hey, guys, this was nice, but it was only Clemson. 'We've got bigger tests that are going to come up,' LSU's coach said after his team routed Clemson, 51-10. In an epic diss, Kiffin told ABC his scout team scored as many points on LSU as Clemson did. 'It was about the same score,' Kiffin said. Week 1 winners and losers: Clemson hits rock bottom against LSU Toppmeyer: Bad boy Lane Kiffin breaks Dabo Swinney, as LSU's villain rises in Clemson rout Holy smokes. Coming in hot, a missile, to incinerate Dabo Swinney's career! Kiffin described Clemson's offense to ESPN as 'dysfunctional.' That was putting it kindly. Pitiful fits, too. This is what it's come to for little ol' Clemson. Swinney filled his roster with a bunch of nobodies. The squad compares to an SEC scout team. "The best thing about that one," Swinney said, "is that it's over." He's talking about the game, but what about his career? How many more humiliations must Clemson endure before somebody in power admits: This is over. So, how to execute a offramp? Swinney, 56, is not the type to grab a Tom Clancy novel and a Tommy Bahama chair and retire early to the beach, so, this could become uncomfortable. If you'd asked me before the game what Swinney needs, I'd have told you he needs a reboot somewhere else. Leave Clemson. Start fresh somewhere else. See if that re-energizes Swinney and reignites his career. Now, after the most lopsided loss of Swinney's career, I'm wondering: Who would be desperate enough to want Dabo? He'll forever be a legend, but he's no longer a commodity. Swinney's stock, within just a few years, plunged from Nvidia to Spirit Airlines. Even if he wasn't stubborn enough to make Clemson fire him, could he drum up a Power Four suitor once the coaching carousel kicks into gear and leave on his own terms? Not if the hiring committee gets ahold of this game film. Swinney would be the first to remind you of his impressive career resume, but I'd point out there's a guy not much older than Dabo with a national championship ring who can't find a job, so he works for the ACC Network. Make room on the TV set, Jimbo. Grab a seat for Dabo. Jimbo Fisher, though, didn't get fired by the school where he won the national title. He left Florida State, then got fired by Texas A&M. Clemson firing a legend would be altogether different. It would be firing a coach for whom it'll also commission a statue. Clemson could afford the statue, but what about Swinney's buyout? He'd be owed $57 million if Clemson fires him, and his deal includes no offset language. That, folks, is what an impasse looks like. You could say Swinney made a predictable mistake by anointing veteran backup Christopher Vizzina as Clemson's starting quarterback, rather than doing what Dabo's contemporaries would do and heading to the transfer market, with a wad of cash in hand, to buy a better quarterback. You'd be right to say it, but the problem goes deeper than that. You also could say Swinney was woefully unimaginative to try to play the hits by rehiring Chad Morris, with whom he launched Clemson's glory days more than a decade ago. You'd be right about that, too, but the problem still goes deeper. This isn't about one quarterback or one coordinator. Clemson is broken, the problems extend from root to stem. A coach who insists he's too young to retire nonetheless looks like a relic from an era that's not coming back. Legends don't always get to write their ending. Tennessee sacked Phillip Fulmer 10 years after his national championship. Florida State pushed out Bobby Bowden 10 years after his second national title. Well, it's been 10 years, Clemson, since Trevor Lawrence. We no longer have to ask whether the game has passed Swinney by. It obviously has. Heck, Tyler from Spartanburg saw this coming years ago. 'We're a lot better than what we played,' Swinney said. I think he means: We used to be a lot better, back when the rules were different, back when coaches constructed rosters differently, back when the best teams didn't cost tens of millions of dollars, back when Swinney's sign, retain, develop approach built a program that was the envy of the land, instead of a glorified scout team. This is over. Now, when and how will Clemson and Swinney choose to end it? That's the part that's tough to answer. Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dabo Swinney: 'It's over.' He could be talking about his Clemson career | Opinion partner publisher · 2.0M followers Nebraska managed to avoid pulling a 'Rutgers' to win the Frank Solich Bowl in the school's season-opening home tilt. But as the Cornhuskers enter their fourth season under Matt Rhule, they didn't appear much closer than Greg Schiano's Rutgers program to even contending for a Big Ten title. Scoring the game's final 21 points, Nebraska pulled away after a scare from Ohio – which was paid $1.6 million for the game, per terms of the contract reviewed by USA TODAY Sports – in an 49-21 win . Solich, who served as head coach at both Nebraska and Ohio, was honored by the Cornhuskers with the Legends Award; he won 173 games as a head coach, 58 at Nebraska. 'I truly believe, and I'll probably get fried for saying this; we needed some of those things to happen,' said Rhule, who was agreed to a lucrative contract extension last October amidst purported interest from Penn State. 'We didn't need 70-0. I didn't want to give up a 75-yard touchdown play but I wanted a battle. This was great scheduling to be quite honest, the heat and cramping and all those things.' The Cornhuskers lost four of their last six games in partner publisher · 2.0M followers Following 26 regular-season races, the NASCAR postseason has arrived with a revamped Chase format and the elimination of, well, eliminations. The Chase kicks off Sunday, Sept. 6 at Darlington Raceway, the first of 10 postseason races. But the playoff format, which the Cup Series had used since 2014, has been scrapped. That means no more driver eliminations after every three races, and, perhaps more important, no more championship race. 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Lancaster's resignation was confirmed in a letter sent out to the community. The second-winningest program in Texas' illustrious high school football history, Lancaster joined the Panthers in 2025, leading the program to a 7-6 record. This year, they opened the season with a 40-0 home loss to Whitney. In the letter, it was announced that assistant coach Kyle Stone will serve as both the interim athletic director and football coach going forward. Stone's first game as interim head coach will be Friday night as the Panthers travel to Axtell. 'Mart ISD would like to share that, effective today, Coach Lancaster has resigned from his position as Athletic Director/Head Football Coach of Mart ISD," the letter to the public reads. "We are grateful for Coach Lancaster's time, leadership, and dedication to Mart ISD and our athletic programs. We wish him the very best as he begins his next journey. We know our coaching staff, student-athletes, student body, teachers, administrators, families, and community join us in wishing Coach Lancaster continued success in all future partner publisher · 2.0M followers The U.S. women are starting the road to the Los Angeles Olympics in a tough spot. The Americans drew the first subdivision in qualifying , where scores tend to be the lowest, at the upcoming world gymnastics championships. They also finish their Oct. 18 qualifying session on balance beam, the event where nerves are most likely to be a factor. This doesn't mean the U.S. women can't make the podium, where the top three teams automatically qualify for LA28. Scores start over after qualifying, and the Americans have won every team title going back to the 2011 world championships. They also could be bringing two Olympic gold medalists in Hezly Rivera and Jade Carey , with the worlds team to be named after a selection camp Sept. 30-Oct. 1. 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Development: Five-star TE and Oklahoma football commit Seneca Driver has been thrown out of the football game. — Barkley Truax (@BarkleyTruax) September 5, 2026 The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Driver was coming off a breakout junior season in which he contributed as a receiver, short-yardage running back, and defensive playmaker. He helped lead Boyle County to a Class 4A state championship in 2025 and was named the championship game's MVP. He finished with 875 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns, adding three rushing scores, 67 tackles, 3 sacks, and 5 interceptions in 15 games. Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X at @NP_AlexMartin or via email: amartin@usatodayco.com. For additional high school sports coverage, be sure to follow USA TODAY High School Sports on Instagram and partner publisher · 2.0M followers It didn't take long for the first FCS upset to happen in the 2026 college football season. 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We're in Virgo season, and I've officially started my horoscope education. So far, I've learned September is about boundaries, getting organized, checking a few things off the list and making room for something new. Considering I'm a chronic list-maker who is always chasing the next idea, this is hitting a little closer to home than I expected. And speaking of chasing the next idea, we've got one coming soon for PLAYers. Over the next three Sundays, I'm going to share a small clue about something new we've been working on for PLAY. Newsletter readers get the first peek, and I promise the hints will get progressively less cryptic. This week's clue: Sometimes you don't want the quick version or the full commitment. The sweet spot is somewhere right in the middle. As you think about that clue, don't forget your daily dose of the Crossword . After all, nothing goes better with your morning