Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney has become a major target for many over the past few years as he has led the Tigers to heights never achieved in program history.
Swinney, who has won two National Titles, seven ACC Championships and is currently on a streak of six-straight CFB Playoff appearances, has risen to the top of the nation and is the only active coach in CFB to be even fairly comparable to Nick Saban. Of course, he has a long way to go.
With that kind of success and the way he carries himself off the field as a man of faith and someone who has has always been touted for high integrity and character by his peers, it shouldn’t be any surprise that many want to take shots when they present themselves.
Willie Anderson was an NFL All-Pro who played in the league for 13 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens and made five Pro-Bowl appearances. He played college football at Auburn.
Following the news of NIL coming to college athletics, Anderson posted on Twitter calling for Dabo Swinney to quit because of an out-of-context quote he found from the Clemson football coach in the past.
I’m not being messy. Cuz the man is a great coach. But has Dabo quit yet ? Remember he said “ he would quit if they allowed players to make money?” Just wondering what the fate of a great program like Clemson is gonna be without him! #NIL #Dabo #Clemson
— Willie Anderson (@BigWillie7179) June 29, 2021
For those who aren’t aware, Swinney was asked in 2014 about the attempted Northwestern football players union that sought to advocate for pay and other benefits from their university.
"“We try to teach our guys, use football to create the opportunities, take advantage of the platform and the brand and the marketing you have available to you,” Swinney said. “But as far as paying players, professionalizing college athletics, that’s where you lose me. I’ll go do something else, because there’s enough entitlement in this world as it is.”"
Of course, everyone took that comment as the Clemson football coach saying he’s against players receiving any money
Swinney was asked about his stance again in 2019 and made sure to mention that NIL and pay-for-play were not the same thing.
"“There are things I’d love to see in continued improvement, but I think everything should be tied to education and graduation. The very few, the 1.6 percent that get to go on to the NFL, for those who don’t — maybe there’s an annuity or stipend that when they graduate, they get that,” Swinney said. “That’s a model that can be an improvement. Maybe it is the likeness. I don’t know. Then you have others out there who say we should just professionalize college athletics.”"
Swinney has always been a traditionalist and one of the things he has always pointed to is the importance of graduation. When building the culture of the Clemson football program, it has always been tied to graduation. That’s why the Tigers have one of the highest graduation rates in all of the Power-5.
It’s easy to look at a quote from seven years ago and try to make something of it, but it’s really nothing more than sour grapes.
Anyone who has been around Swinney knows that he is for his players- and that’s why he constantly has had players come to his defense- and many of his concerns about paying players are legitimate, whether you want to admit it or not.
Swinney has never said he is against NIL payments, though, and anyone who says otherwise is taking words out of context.