Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney has stuck his foot in his mouth once again.

Following the Tigers’ 28-20 double-overtime loss to Miami on Saturday night, Swinney was asked if his team employed a “sports psychiatrist” to help players cope with such difficult moments. Swinney’s response was ill-advised to say the least.

“We got him. He’s probably on suicide-watch right now,” Swinney said with a grin, before adding, “I’m sure things have not gone the way ya’ll always want. Maybe in your professional career from time to time and you had a plan, worked hard and you did everything [and] didn’t go the way you want. You just got to keep moving. You got to keep going.”

Here’s video, via Luke Winstel of ClemsonSports.com:

Swinney was obviously joking, but probably should have stayed away from that particular subject. Numerous student-athletes have spoken out in recent years about their mental health struggles, and suicide among teenagers and college-age people has been a particularly troubling trend of late.

It’s not the first time Swinney — a Pelham native and former player and assistant coach at Alabama — has gotten into hot water over insensitive comments or actions. In 2019, he said in a radio interview that he was regarded as “Osama bin Dabo” in his home state after beating the Crimson Tide twice in three years for the national championship.

In 2020 during the height of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, photos surfaced of Swinney wearing a “Football Matters” t-shirt at a pool party. Later that same year, he accused Florida State of using COVID-19 protocols as an “excuse” for canceling the game between the two teams, implying the struggling Seminoles simply didn’t want to lose badly on the field.

Swinney’s problems are about more than just bad public relations, however. After several seasons as a national championship contender, Clemson has gotten off to a 4-3 start for the second time in three years.

It’s worth noting that the 2021 Clemson team also lost three of its first seven games before ending the year with six straight victories. But the days of the Tigers dominating the ACC and being a near-lock for a College Football Playoff berth appear to be over, which leaves Swinney with less margin for error in the PR world.