Posted by ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich

As a reporter, it’s not uncommon I have the same questions you do.

So I officially put myself in the shoes of a Clemson fan this afternoon on coach Dabo Swinney’s teleconference.

Here was my question to him:

You have veteran starters back on the offensive line. You have C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford, who are two of the fastest and most explosive players in the country, and yet the Clemson fans are hearing a lot of the same things. Why is it still an execution problem?

“We’re not doing a good enough job of coaching,” Swinney said. “That’s the bottom line. It’s really that simple. We have to do a better job. I hear you. Let me tell you, Heather, I’m a Clemson fan myself. I’m mad. I’m not happy. Nobody should be happy. Nobody is trying to make this a rosy day. I’m very, very disappointed in where we are, but I also understand that this is a football team that did a lot of things to put themselves in position to win.

“We’re a really tough holding call away and a tough third-down play by Georgia Tech, and we moved the ball against a really tough TCU defense, put ourselves in a position and we don’t win. We’re in a position to win at Maryland and we don’t win. We’ve got to learn to win. That’s coaching. That’s the bottom line. ... We’ve got to do a better job with attention to detail and focus on the execution of what we’re doing so we can teach these guys how to win. That’s our job. These kids are giving us good effort. We have to do a better job. That’s the only way to answer that.”

It’s the right answer, and it’s too early to go all Tommy Bowden on Dabo Swinney. It was one bad loss. Losing a close game to Georgia Tech in Atlanta is nothing to be ashamed about. Losing to No. 10 TCU is hardly devastating. And the Tigers are hardly the only team with early blemishes on their ACC record. Clemson can still win the Atlantic Division. Some Clemson fans, though, have run out of patience.

Swinney says he feels sorry for those fans.

“I think you’ve got a group of kids that are playing their butts off, playing hard,” he said. “Everybody has their right to do what they want to do with their money, but I’d say we’ve got a long season still to go. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my life, nothing’s easy. Ain’t nothing easy. Every time I’ve been in the valley -- and I’m in the valley right now -- it’s lonely down there. But every time I’ve been in the valley, I’ve always come out better because of it. That’s how I apply this. I’m not happy. Nobody should be happy. Everybody ought to be ticked off because we’re 2-3. But to take your ball and go home, that’s never been my attitude, it’s never been my mentality. This is in the idle of the season. ... Let’s play this season out. Let’s support these kids. Nobody has to support me. Nobody has to like the coaches or anything like that. That’s not what it’s all about.”

Swinney said there won’t be any changes to any coaching responsibilities during the bye week, he’s sticking with starting quarterback Kyle Parker.

Last year, in addition to the coaching staff, the offensive line took most of the heat. Swinney said that shouldn’t be the case this year.

“The offensive line is not dominant by any means, but we’re much better than we were last year,” Swinney said. “That’s reality. There may be a different perception, but that’s reality. There ain’t no doubt about it. We’re better.”

If the offensive line is better, and Ford and Spiller are better, and there’s no reason to bench Parker in favor of Willy Korn, then the only other explanation for the Tigers’ offensive struggles is the one Swinney gave -- coaching.

It’s up to this staff to reverse the direction this team is headed, and it has a bye week to do it.

“I’m going to keep working, keep swinging the axe,” Swinney said, “because I know the tree’s going to fall.”

If I'm a Clemson fan, I'd be willing to give him some more time to prove it.