Dabo Swinney denies college football has reached point he said he would retire with NIL, revenue sharing

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney made some comments back in 2019 about the professionalization of college athletics that he’s been trying to clarify ever since. Even now, six years later, he still gets questions about it.

This week, Swinney was asked about his comments that he wouldn’t coach if college football players were paid and he quickly cut in. He wanted to head things off at the pass.

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“I never said that,” Dabo Swinney said. “I said I’m against professionalizing college athletics, where we don’t have education, we don’t have scholarships, we’re just pro football. And that’s not the case.”

There are a number of reasons college football hasn’t hit full professionalization yet, though the sport seems insistent on creeping ever closer. For one, Swinney pointed out there are still some huge non-football-related commitments.

“These kids go to school,” Dabo Swinney said. “They have to go to school, they have to qualify. They have to take tests. They have finals. They have degree completion percentages that they have to make. They have to pass a certain amount of hours. Those things are real. Those things aren’t make-believe. These are student-athletes.”

But to say things haven’t changed at all would be naive as well. Dabo Swinney knows that.

It all comes down to one thing, primarily. The long-time Clemson head coach explained.

“But their opportunity is different. Their scholarship’s different. The rev share,” Dabo Swinney said. “All those things are great. Those things are great. But it’s not just a professional contract and you just show up and play football. There’s a lot that they have to do as college athletes. That hasn’t changed at all.”

For what it’s worth, Clemson football has still remained quite strong since Swinney’s comments back in the spring of 2019. The Tigers have compiled a 55-21 (.724) overall record, winning the ACC three times.