Dabo Swinney gives unique response to Clemson's use of NIL

NIL has become a hot-button issue in the college sports world. It’s clearly going to impact how teams build their rosters going forward and force coaches to do things differently. That, along with the transfer portal, is forcing teams to adapt. It’s an adaptation that Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is still making.

In the past, Dabo Swinney has been criticized for being too stuck in his ways, which, in his defense, have clearly worked. However, Swinney would actually argue that his team has always been built on NIL, except it’s a little different than how teams are doing so today.

“We built this program on NIL,” Dabo Swinney said. “We really did. … We built this program in God’s Name, Image and Likeness.”

That’s certainly not the way most teams are building their rosters on NIL. At the same time, this does fit into the belief system that Dabo Swinney has consistently put forward throughout the years, and, again, it’s worked for him to this point.