As usual, Pate is spot on here.<\/p>\n
PublishedDecember 29, 2025 8:06 PM EST\u2022UpdatedDecember 29, 2025 8:06 PM EST<\/p>\n
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The landscape of college football is changing by the day, and the new mantra for any coach looking to stay in the game is “adapt or die.”<\/p>\n
One coach that has been dragged kicking and screaming into the NIL and transfer portal era of college sports is none other than Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney.<\/p>\n
And this weekend’s Pinstripe Bowl (aka The Disappointment Bowl<\/a>) may have been the metaphorical death blow to Dabo’s reign as one of college football’s elites.<\/p>\n I’ve been on the “Dabo is done<\/a>” train for a hot minute now, and one media personality who is with me (as he usually is) is Josh Pate.<\/p>\n Pate put it as bluntly as he could on the latest episode of his podcast, Josh Pate’s College Football Show.<\/p>\n “This was going to be the year that if the Dabo model still worked, it would be proven,” Pate explained, “and they went 7\u20136.”<\/p>\n This was about as disappointing a season for a College Football Playoff contender outside of State College, PA,<\/a> but according to Pate, things could get a lot worse for Clemson before they get better.<\/p>\n “On paper, next year should be worse for Clemson.”<\/p>\n Brutal.<\/p>\n The “Dabo Model” Pate is referring to is the complete and utter dismissal of the transfer portal and reluctance to lean into NIL.<\/p>\n