Dabo Swinney says college football needs a "compete blowup" before it's too late

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney sees where college football is going in the 21st century, and he doesn't like it one bit.

Swinney says he sees the sport undergoing major, structural changes in the near future, which could include the best Power Five schools breaking away to form its own division or league.

Blow it up — now

"I think there's going to be a complete blowup... especially in football, and there needs to be," Swinney told ESPN. "I think eventually there will be some type of break and another division.

"Right now, you got everybody in one group, and it's not feasible. Alabama has different problems than Middle Tennessee, but we're trying to make them all the same, and it's just not. I think you'll have 40 or 50 teams and a commissioner, and here are the rules."

NIL needs reined in

Swinney, a two-time College Football Playoff national champion at Clemson and six-time semifinal entrant, says the game is being held back by bureaucratic finagling.

And in particular by the potential expansion of NIL rules in the sport. Swinney says he supports players earning money from their name, image, and likeness, but that the policy in its current form could lead to disaster in the future.

"There's no rules, no guidance, no nothing," Swinney said.

"It's out of control. It's not sustainable. It's an absolute mess and a train wreck, and the kids are going to be the ones who suffer in the end. There are going to be a lot of kids that end up with no degrees and make decisions based on the wrong things."

Swinney holds a 150-36 record at Clemson and last season his team failed to make the College Football Playoff for the first time in six straight years.

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