Swinney, Again, Has to Clarify NIL Stance
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CLEMSON–The head coach of the Clemson Tigers is sick and tired of having to explain himself again and again...and who can blame him.
Earlier this year, SEC personality Paul Finebaum took his shots at him.
"Dabo's specifically against 'pay for play,' which, guess what, that's what we're talking about here [with NIL]," Finebaum said.
"Dabo is very antiquated in his view. It's almost as if Dabo is an 85 year old coach like his mentor, as opposed to a young guy, which he supposedly is. Yeah, I think he tolerates what's going on today.
"But I think he's saying, 'I'm really disgusted with it. We haven't quite figured out a way here at Clemson to gin the system like some others and we're now behind. Four years ago, we ran college football.'"
Finebaum added, "And Dabo is not in favor of player rights. I mean, he survived. But it's obvious that Dabo is not for today's players getting their due. Now, I'm not saying everyone is. But if you're going to exist in 2022, you need to stop with the self-righteous routine."
Tuesday, during his weekly press conference, Dabo Swinney was asked again about the NIL, and, again, clarified his stance that the NIL has been "great" for the Tigers.
“It’s been great for us. It really has," Swinney said. "I know there are a lot of unintended consequences to come about. Hopefully, they will smooth out somewhere down the road. There are some crazy things other places have dealt with. We just haven’t. I’m on year 20 here. I would hate to be starting out and trying to manage everything as you try to build a program.
“NIL has been great for our guys. We have a couple of great collectives out there that I think align with who we are as a program. It’s great to see our guys serving the community and giving back and have an opportunity to make some money. As college football has changed, we have addressed those things … support staff, nutrition, unlimited snacks. Used to be, you gave them a cracker with peanut butter and you were going to jail.
"...The purpose of our program has never changed. We want to build great men through the game and equip them. NIL has just been another area that needed to be addressed. It’s not the focal point, but it’s important. The training room is not the focal point, but you better have a good training room. I hired an NIL coordinator, C.D. Davies, something I spent a lot of time on. I doubt anyone in the country has an NIL coordinator as qualified as the one we have. We have a guy who has been a CEO for Citibank. My job is to give our guys every resource they need to be successful. We want to educate them, train them and protect them. It’s a great opportunity. C.D. has been amazing."
The biggest issue for Swinney is the very thing that has everyone concerned, and it has nothing to do with NIL: tampering.
“The main thing in college athletics is education," Swinney added. "We already know that 98-percent of players won’t play in the NFL, so if we don’t keep education as the main thing, we’ll have a lot of guys not equipped and in the ditch. I’m very well qualified to speak on this. I would love to see us further incentivize graduation. The more we can incentivize graduation, the better it will be for people playing this game. The bigger issue is tampering with the transfer portal because there is no barrier. There aren’t many people going to the portal without a plan. So how did they get a plan?”
