Paul Finebaum says Dabo Swinney is struggling mightily without Brent Venables: "He's on an island, and I don't see him getting it back"

Dabo Swinney finds himself on the hot seat after the Clemson Tigers' disastrous start to the 2023 season. Clemson's 28-7 loss to Duke on Monday was one of college football Week 1's biggest upsets, alongside TCU's loss to Colorado.

Veteran sports analyst Paul Finebaum appeared on an episode of ESPN's "First Take" and voiced his opinion on why Swinney is struggling.

Finebaum believes the exit of Brent Venables, the Tigers' associate head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2012 to 2021, has significantly impacted Swinney and Clemson.

"He had a hard time with NIO, and I think the biggest problem is he lost the most valuable coach he has had, the coach that helped him win those national championships. Think about this for a second. Brent Venables went to Oklahoma, and since he is gone, Dabo Swinney is struggling," Finebaum said.

Finebaum further sounded the death knell on the reign of Swinney at Clemson:

"And he's also losing. He last night was the third time in four games. Dabo Swinney has lost three of the last seven, and three of those losses are by two or three touchdowns.

"This is unprecedented in his reign, and I don't think he has anywhere to turn. I think the game has passed him by, and quite frankly, he's on an island, and I don't see him getting it back."

Swinney sounded dumbfounded about how the game had unfolded.

"An incredibly disappointing loss. That's honestly, in all my years of football, I've never been a part of a game like that ever. And I've been here comes a long time," Swinney said after Clemson's loss to Duke.

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What pundits had to say about Dabo Swinney

Dabo Swinney likely still has credit in the bank for leading Clemson to the 2017 and 2019 national championships. The 28-7 loss to Duke was the Tigers' first in 19 years against the Blue Devils.

College football sports analyst Aaron Murray, appearing on "The Volume," gave a balanced take on Swinney.

"I do applaud Dabo for making some changes; some things had to be made, but there's issues at two major spots that I've been trying to harp on for Clemson fans all offseason," Murray said.

He continued to explain why he placed some of the blame on Swinney for not dipping into the transfer portal as most CFB coaches are doing:

"You don't have an extremely talented quarterback; still very green. And you don’t have playmakers on the outside right now; two things that we're just not accustomed to seeing at Clemson."

It's still the start of the season, but Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers will need to bounce back quickly before their season unravels.