Dabo Swinney, who just signed a $93 million contract, isn't a fan of players getting paid
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is a very rich man after leading Clemson to four College Football Playoff appearances and two national championships in the last four seasons. But the Tigers head coach doesn’t have much interest in any of that wealth trickling down to the players.
Swinney, who has been on the side opposing paying college athletes, recently spoke with ESPN’s David Hale about potentially leaving Clemson for Alabama, his alma mater, when Nick Saban retires. After signing a 10-year deal worth $93 million, it seems unlikely that the Tigers leader plans on leaving his post.
However, while discussing the idea of leaving, Swinney made some interesting comments regarding player payment.
“Who knows what’s going to happen down the road? I have no idea,” Swinney told ESPN. “I just try to be great where my feet are. That’s my focus every day. Who knows? They may do away with college football in three years. There may be no college football. They may want to professionalize college athletics. Well, then, maybe I’ll go to the pros. If I’m going to coach pro football, I might as well do that. I may get a terrible president or AD one day. I don’t know. I have no idea what’s down the road. But I know what we have at Clemson is special, and I wanted to make a commitment to the university. That’s what the message of the contract was.”
Another message of the contract is that Swinney’s coaching services come at a hefty price tag.
While Swinney is free to have his opinion — and plenty of other people share the thought that players are receiving a scholarship for a college education as well as other exclusive services other students may not have access to — it does seem a little ridiculous for him to make the comment after signing a nearly nine-figure deal.
Swinney has talked against the idea of players receiving payment in the past, and it sounds like his stance hasn’t changed much.