Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has been painted in an unfair and untruthful picture as the NIL era of College Football began on July 1st.
Thousands of people across social media platforms- including many national CFB writers, analysts and publications- threw Dabo Swinney under the bus and called for his retirement, using a quote from 2014 where Swinney said he’d consider moving on from CFB if players were paid as professionals.
Of course, that quote- which you can see below- was taken sorely out of context.
"“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.”"
Since that point, Swinney has reiterated several times the difference between ‘pay-for-play’ and NIL and has mentioned NIL as a potential solution for athletes several times.
Clemson running back Darien Rencher said Dabo Swinney was ‘excited’ for his players to have this opportunity
A story that hasn’t been picked up by many national publications is the fact that Tiger running back Darien Rencher appeared on the Packer & Durham Show on Thursday morning to discuss NIL.
When asked about Dabo Swinney, Rencher had nothing but glowing words to say about his head coach.
"“He’s excited,” Rencher said via Tigernet. “I know he kinda catches some things (that) gets out of context, but he’s excited for us to make the most of this opportunity. He’s equipping with us — as much as they can on their end — to make sure we have as much content and as much connections as we can. And I think Clemson has done a great job up to this point and I’ve been on several internships with several companies that hopefully I’ll get partnerships to work with.“I think Clemson has been set up to win for a long time and now we get released to go be all we can be.”"
Saying that Swinney’s words have been taken out of context, Rencher made sure to mention that Swinney isn’t just excited for his players to make the most of an opportunity, but that he has equipped them to reach the maximum potential possible as they look to capitalize on and build their own personal brands.
Rencher announced during the interview that he would be starting his own podcast and that he is looking to partner with as many companies and brands as possible.
"“I would love to partner with as many people. I think I’m a jack of all trades. I want to speak. I want to do fashion. I want to do philanthropy-type stuff…I just want to help people. Obviously there is money to be made, but I do believe I can help people build something special and they can help me make my dreams come true.”"
Rencher has been a model ambassador for the Clemson football program and has been instrumental in community initiatives and involvement. He is a leader and the way he carries himself shows why he’ll absolutely be successful during the NIL era of College Football.