Why This One Change Is What Dabo Swinney Would Like to See in College Football

Those who follow college football know that Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney isn’t afraid to speak his mind. It’s why many respect what he does.

At the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, last week, he brought up a change that he would like to see going forward in the sport. It came up when he was asked about Clemson’s quarterback battle between Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds.

But something is missing from the quarterback test for both players: other teams.

“We’re the only level of football, from pee-wee to middle school to high school to the NFL, that has no preseason games,” he said. “Exactly. We don’t have anything.”

Swinney likes giving tough competition to start his respective seasons. Since 2021, the Tigers have had to play the likes of Georgia twice and LSU, as well as other ACC opponents. Clemson opens 2026 at LSU, and he has a new-look team that blends both freshmen and transfers.

But he’s going in somewhat blind. Compared to the NFL, where head coaches have four weeks to iron out wrinkles within a team, Swinney needs to know his best personnel ahead of one of the loudest environments in the entire country.

“So now, all of a sudden, I can’t create Baton Rouge,” he said. “I mean, I can make it loud, but I can’t create how that guy is going to respond when this guy gets his helmet knocked sideways.”

Even with Clemson’s bona fide starters, a preseason game could mean a younger player receives more reps. It’s similar to those garbage-time games that teams play in Week 1, which is very typical of top programs to figure it out.

Swinney doesn’t do that, and understandably so. Clemson can make a statement in Week 1 by doing so, but he won’t be sure if the right players are playing until it’s too late.

“There’s a reason why that is the way,” he said. “Hey, you got a guy that I got, Blake Miller at right tackle, he’s played a gajillion, I don’t need to watch him in a preseason game. But I need to see that backup, you know?”

Instead, a game in the middle of August, similar to what the NFL and high school programs do, could make a lot more sense. Even with how Power Four schools play FCS opponents for money, that could transfer to the preseason instead of the schedule itself, especially with how the College Football Playoff is criticized.

Swinney believes that there are plenty of benefits to end up as a win-win for everyone.

“I mean, I need to see something that would be a good thing for, I’ve always said that’s a good thing for college,” he said. “ We don’t have that.”

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