Dabo Swinney & Clemson Play Long Game That Collectors Should Mimic as the 2025 College Football Season Kicks Off

I’ve been following Clemson football long enough to see the cycles. I attended games as a child in the 80's when Clemson was a powerhouse and then played witness to the middling status we held for nearly 20 years until one Dabo Swinney took the reins and has won 2 National Championships in the last 10 years. I have also watched Dabo get questioned when the transfer portal exploded and NIL money started reshaping the sport. While other programs tried to buy instant success, Clemson doubled down on its own way of doing things. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t about headlines. It was about building culture, developing talent, and trusting continuity. Sitting here now, with this roster and a legitimate path to win a national title, I can’t help but feel Dabo might end up getting the last laugh.

Being a Clemson graduate, I can say with certainty that watching Dabo Swinney stick to his way has been a lesson in patience. Other schools have built their rosters like fantasy teams through the transfer portal, chasing instant results. Clemson has been different. Dabo has stayed loyal to the players he recruits and commits to developing them through their time in the program. To me, that stability gives players a stronger platform to build their brand and NIL value because fans and collectors know they’ll be part of the Clemson story for the long haul. When you see a Cade Klubnik jersey or signed football, it isn’t tied to a one-year rental. It’s tied to a multi-year journey that people invest in.

Dabo Swinney takes the road less traveled during this NIL age of college football - Clemson Football sits in rare air in 2025 — Clemson player football cards of TJ Parker, Cade Klubnick, and Trevor Lawrence | The RAD Collective

Clemson has also been smart in preparing its players for life beyond football. The NIL infrastructure is more than headline numbers, it’s designed to create sustainable opportunities. By keeping players in the program, Clemson is giving them time to build value in both merchandise and collectibles. I’ve seen it firsthand in the card market. Cade Klubnick PSA 10 autos that I started buying last year, long before most people believed, have steadily climbed as he’s grown into a Heisman candidate. Our collection of those cards now feels like a case study in what happens when you invest early in someone who has a real platform and time to develop it.

The same story is starting with TJ Parker and Peter Woods. Both are projected as possible top-10 picks in next year’s NFL Draft. Because they’ve stayed and grown at Clemson, their value isn’t just about potential, it’s about proven production in orange. Collectibles tied to them will benefit from that trust and visibility. It’s one thing to chase hype; it’s another to build a player’s market over multiple seasons. In collecting, just like in football, the short-term sizzle fades. The long-term value lasts.

In our house, the connection runs deep. We’ve always made sure to keep every Clemson player in our collection, no matter how big or small their career ended up being. Trevor Lawrence has been the cornerstone of that. Just last week we picked up his rookie Kaboom card. That card is so rare it almost never comes up for sale, and it instantly became one of the most meaningful pieces in our collection. It’s not just because of the price or the rarity or the ups and wons he has had in the NFL, it’s because it ties directly back to memories of Trevor’s time in Death Valley, when Clemson was at its peak and every Saturday felt like magic.

onit Clemson Football Cards for 2025 as the tigers make a run at the College Football Playoff and National Championship | The RAD Collective

That’s the thing about collecting Clemson cards. They’re not just investments or glossy slabs of cardboard. They’re pieces of the program’s story, and by extension, pieces of our family’s story. They carry the weight of development, loyalty, and stories that stretch across seasons and even careers. Whether it’s Trevor’s Kaboom or the Cade PSA 10 autos lining our cases, each one connects us to the same belief Dabo has been preaching. Do things the right way. Build for the long term. Trust the process, even when it’s out of step with the crowd. For me, this season isn’t just about winning games. It’s about showing that patience and belief, whether in a program or in a collection, is what pays off in the end.

Sometimes the last laugh isn’t about proving people wrong. It’s about proving the way you live and collect was right all along.

Clemson Football Player PSA 10 Football Cards from The RAD Collective Vault | The RAD Collective