Colin Cowherd responds to Dabo Swinney's post-game criticism of Clemson

Published Jan. 10, 2017 1:00 p.m. ET

Aaron Torres

Of all the interesting subplots that came out of Monday night's epic, Clemson 35-31 national championship game victory over Alabama, one that has picked up plenty of steam Tuesday morning is Dabo Swinney calling out FS1's Colin Cowherd in the postgame press conference.

Cowherd has been relatively critical of the Tigers as a title contender - thanks in large part to close wins over teams like Troy and NC State - and apparently Dabo was paying attention.

https://twitter.com/jnsanchez/status/818779852480413697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"The guy that called us a fraud, ask Alabama if we’re a fraud," Swinney said. "Was the name Colin Cowherd? I never met him, don’t know him. Ask Alabama if we’re a fraud. Ask Ohio State if we’re a fraud. Ask Oklahoma if we’re a fraud. The only fraud is that guy, ’cause he didn’t do his homework. I hope y’all print that.”

"People this morning are like, 'what do you think of that,' Cowherd said. "One of the things I've realized, is that you [as an audience] do not punish me if I'm wrong. You punish me as an audience if I choose topics you're not interested in. You have never punished me for being wrong. My 'Blazing Five' is one of the highest-rated thing I do and I get 57 percent right."

"In the end, you've never punished me for being wrong. You punish me for choosing topics you don't give a rip about. So I will continue super strong opinions on college football, the NBA, the NFL."

"All I can say to Dabo Swinney is, you're a hell of a coach, you made college football better. You gave me gave me four-and-a-half hours - the game was a tad long - but four-and-a-half hours of entertainment. And your players showed such great character in the most crucial moments. I couldn't be happier for Clemson."