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Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney said he is "indifferent" about potential changes to the College Football Playoff format.
Swinney talked to reporters on May 11 while in Amelia Island, Florida, for ACC Spring meetings. According to The State, Swinney said he isn't focused on any changes too much because "(he doesn't) have any control over it," saying "it doesn’t really matter what I think.”
The 12-team playoff format will continue through the 2026 season, but in the latest proposal from the American Football Coaches Association, there is a potential for the number of teams to increase. Though there's no exact number in the proposal, there have been talks of that number going up to 16 or even 24.
The goal of the new proposal centers around "structuring a season that concludes in a timely and sustainable way" and to do so, changes being proposed range from eliminating conference championship games to going back to a one bye week schedule rather than two.
The AFCA recommends the season end by the second Monday in January. The other two main changes proposed in order to accomplish the goal include "(preserving) a dedicated window for the Army-Navy game, while allowing flexibility for other games to be played on that day outside the window" and (reducing) the minimum number of days between contests to no fewer than six."
Swinney is heading into his 18th season as coach of the Tigers but is coming off his worst season since 2010. Clemson finished 7-6 and didn't make the ACC title game despite being the heavy favorites entering the season.
Swinney has won nine ACC Championship games. He joked that a lot of people who want the title games to go away can't get to their respective conference championship in the first place.
“I hate to see championship games go away,” Swinney said, adding that he understands it might happen if the number of games increase since there's only so many game days. "Do I like it? No. But I totally understand it, because that’s where it’s going."
The 12-team format was introduced ahead of the 2024 season, an increase from the four-team format that ran from 2014-2023. Clemson won the ACC Championship game in 2024 to receive an automatic bid to the CFP but lost to Texas 38-24 in the first round.
Swinney has won two national championships with Clemson, the most recent in 2018, and has been to the CFP seven times.
Swinney's in-state coaching rival at South CarolinaShane Beamer said May 6 that he's also "indifferent" when it comes to the exact number of teams in the new format but that he's in favor of a shorter season overall. Beamer said he understands people's belief that conference championships are beginning to lose their impact but he loves them.
On May 4 Swinney went on the "Always College Football with Greg McElroy" podcast and talked about Clemson's name, image and likeness (NIL) compared to other teams.
Notre Dame was a team that he mentioned generates more NIL compared to the Tigers.
"Notre Dame has their own TV station, and they make their own rules, and they print their own money," Swinney said then. "They've got a money machine in the backyard or something."
According to ESPN and The State, Swinney said he's gotten backlash since making those comments.
"All of a sudden I'm getting hate mail from people," Swinney said. "We have enough. I was just making a point we never had the same as this school and this school."
Swinney also said Clemson might not have "a $45 million roster" like other teams but it "got enough."
"We've just got to be good with it. We've got to be strategic," Swinney said.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dabo Swinney, Clemson coach on CFP expansion, Notre Dame comments
Continue reading...
Swinney talked to reporters on May 11 while in Amelia Island, Florida, for ACC Spring meetings. According to The State, Swinney said he isn't focused on any changes too much because "(he doesn't) have any control over it," saying "it doesn’t really matter what I think.”
The 12-team playoff format will continue through the 2026 season, but in the latest proposal from the American Football Coaches Association, there is a potential for the number of teams to increase. Though there's no exact number in the proposal, there have been talks of that number going up to 16 or even 24.
The goal of the new proposal centers around "structuring a season that concludes in a timely and sustainable way" and to do so, changes being proposed range from eliminating conference championship games to going back to a one bye week schedule rather than two.
The AFCA recommends the season end by the second Monday in January. The other two main changes proposed in order to accomplish the goal include "(preserving) a dedicated window for the Army-Navy game, while allowing flexibility for other games to be played on that day outside the window" and (reducing) the minimum number of days between contests to no fewer than six."
Swinney is heading into his 18th season as coach of the Tigers but is coming off his worst season since 2010. Clemson finished 7-6 and didn't make the ACC title game despite being the heavy favorites entering the season.
Swinney has won nine ACC Championship games. He joked that a lot of people who want the title games to go away can't get to their respective conference championship in the first place.
“I hate to see championship games go away,” Swinney said, adding that he understands it might happen if the number of games increase since there's only so many game days. "Do I like it? No. But I totally understand it, because that’s where it’s going."
The 12-team format was introduced ahead of the 2024 season, an increase from the four-team format that ran from 2014-2023. Clemson won the ACC Championship game in 2024 to receive an automatic bid to the CFP but lost to Texas 38-24 in the first round.
Swinney has won two national championships with Clemson, the most recent in 2018, and has been to the CFP seven times.
Swinney's in-state coaching rival at South CarolinaShane Beamer said May 6 that he's also "indifferent" when it comes to the exact number of teams in the new format but that he's in favor of a shorter season overall. Beamer said he understands people's belief that conference championships are beginning to lose their impact but he loves them.
Dabo Swinney on his Notre Dame 'money' comments
On May 4 Swinney went on the "Always College Football with Greg McElroy" podcast and talked about Clemson's name, image and likeness (NIL) compared to other teams.
Notre Dame was a team that he mentioned generates more NIL compared to the Tigers.
"Notre Dame has their own TV station, and they make their own rules, and they print their own money," Swinney said then. "They've got a money machine in the backyard or something."
According to ESPN and The State, Swinney said he's gotten backlash since making those comments.
"All of a sudden I'm getting hate mail from people," Swinney said. "We have enough. I was just making a point we never had the same as this school and this school."
Swinney also said Clemson might not have "a $45 million roster" like other teams but it "got enough."
"We've just got to be good with it. We've got to be strategic," Swinney said.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dabo Swinney, Clemson coach on CFP expansion, Notre Dame comments
Continue reading...
