Clemson coach Dabo Swinney responds to Paul Finebaum calling him 'the most annoying winner'

Scott Keepfer | The Greenville News

Show Caption Hide Caption The Top 5 things Dabo Swinney said on Finebaum, media bias Clemson coach Dabo Swinney continued his dissertation on the perception of his team Tuesday during his weekly media conference

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson coach Dabo Swinney responded to critical comments made by SEC Network host Paul Finebaum on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Finebaum called Swinney “the most annoying winner in all of sports” during ESPN’s “Get Up” program.

“The guy just can’t keep his trap shut,” Finebaum said of Swinney. “Somebody just give the man a pacifier, send him to timeout and we’ll check in with him on Dec. 28 when he finally plays a legitimate team during this entire college football season.”

Swinney was unaware of Finebaum’s comments.

“I hate I missed it – I’m sure it was riveting,” Swinney said. “I’d like some timeout, I’d like to take a nap. We should have adult timeout time. Let’s just all bring a mat and take a nap. It would be good. Never had a pacifier, though.”

Swinney, whose team is ranked No. 3 and will take a 27-game winning streak into Saturday's ACC Championship Game against Virginia, then proceeded to praise Finebaum.

“I like Paul,” Swinney said. “Paul’s great at what he does. I’m not going to dislike somebody because he’s great at his job. A lot of people don’t like me because I’m good at my job or because I wear this logo. They don’t know me as a person. They just don’t like me because I’m passionate about doing a good job. He works for the SEC. … That’s what he does. That’s his job.

“Finebaum is great at what he does. What does he do? Which way do we need it to go? He creates great conversation and great drama. We’re the Red Sox; he’s the Yankees. You’re not going to have a Yankees guy stand up and talk great things about the Red Sox; that’s not what he’s paid to do.

“One of the best lessons I’ve learned is that you don’t worry about criticism from people you wouldn’t seek advice from.”