Clemson football: WWDSD – What Would Dabo Swinney Do?

Clemson football Head Coach Dabo Swinney was the first head coach to speak up on NIL.

I think it is safe to say that five years from now, we will look back at this offseason and call it “The Summer of NIL”. The amount of discussion on college sports that is focused on this subject has been overwhelming at times.

Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney spoke up on NIL and the need for regulation earlier this spring. Other coaches like Nick Saban, Lane Kiffin and Mack Brown spoke up in support, echoing Swinney’s sentiment.

On Wednesday, Nick Saban decided to step up his attacks on the NCAA’s weak enforcement of recruiting rules, and threw in some direct attacks on other programs he felt were taking advantage:

"“You read about it, you know who they are. We were second in recruiting last year. A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness. We didn’t buy one player. But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it. It’s tough.”“We have a rule right now that said you cannot use name, image and likeness to entice a player to come to your school. Hell, read about it in the paper. I mean, Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division I player to come to school. It was in the paper and they bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it.”"

Wow. I’m not surprised that Saban stepped up his rhetoric on NIL, especially if he feels his place atop the college football mountain could be threatened. I am surprised he elected to call out peer programs directly. I fully expected the head coaches of both programs to respond, and we didn’t have to wait long.

Quotes from Fisher’s statements:

"“It’s despicable that a reputable head coach can come out and say this when he doesn’t get his way or things don’t go his way. The narcissistic in him doesn’t allow those things to happen. It’s ridiculous, when he’s not on top.”“Some people think they’re God. Go dig into how God did his deal. You might find out about a guy, a lot of things you don’t want to know. We build him up to be this czar of football. Go dig into his past or anybody who has ever coached with him. You can find out anything you want to know about what he does and how he does it. It’s despicable.”"

The gloves are off. I’ve heard grown men tear into others in this sport. I’ve seen coaches like Mike Gundy yell and scream about a member of the press making disparaging comments about a college player. I’ve seen Jim Mora, Sr. vent during a press conference when a reporter asked about his team making the playoffs. I’ve seen Dennis Green go off in front of a microphone when his team choked.

I have never seen three men who are amongst them most well-known coaches in the sport of college football resort to personal attacks, mudslinging and insults.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I can’t tell you I haven’t found this incredibly entertaining. I live in a gray area where I understand professionalism, but I also find trainwrecks fascinating. I think men like Saban, Fisher and Sanders should exercise professionalism, but when someone drops a pipe-bomb like this, I am here for it.

This brings me full-circle back to the coach who kicked off this most recent round of comments on NIL. Coach Swinney is well known for expressing his opinions. He’s known to prefer speaking into a microphone instead of crafting a press release. He’s been criticized for that in the past. On occasion, what he says gets lost in the way he says it. Sometimes people dismiss his opinions on Subject A because they were upset about his opinions on Subject B.

While many outside Clemson Nation are critical of Dabo, he has never engaged in the kind of behavior we are seeing from Saban, Fisher and Sanders. Dabo has challenged other head coaches. I don’t think I need to remind Clemson fans of his engagements with Steve Spurrier or his criticisms of Mike Norvell & Florida State when they canceled the 2020 game in Tallahassee. I have never seen Dabo accuse another coach or program of outright NCAA violations or cheating, the way Saban accused Fisher and Sanders. I have never seen Dabo outright accuse another coach of lying, the way Sanders accused Saban. I have never heard Dabo use direct insults (like calling someone a narcissist or claiming that they thought they were God) the way Fisher directly insulted Saban.

What would Dabo Swinney do if he were in any of their positions? Would he publicly call out another program for cheating if he felt he had enough justification? Would he accuse another coach of lying if he accused Dabo or Clemson of wrongdoing? Would he sling insults at someone if they made him angry enough?

One thing I am certain of is that Dabo would have no fear of doing any of those things if he felt it was justified. I think that is one of the reasons he doesn’t shy away from a question with coach-speak or deflections. He feels like he is on a solid foundation. He’s clearly not alone in that regard. Saban, Fisher and Sanders obviously feel they have the foundations to be able to make the comments they have made without repercussions, but why exactly?

Saban has accused Texas A&M and Jackson State of violating rules, but rumors have swirled around the Alabama program for years that the Crimson Tide had a pre-NIL bagman. Saban himself bragged that his quarterback, Bryce Young, had almost reached 7-figure deals in NIL at a time when few had announced lucrative deals.

Saban isn’t wrong about Texas A&M’s 2022 Class. They finished #1 in the country, something they had never pulled off before. In fairness to A&M, the 2022 class isn’t driven by the 2021 season, it was driven by the 2020 season when the Aggies were one spot away from making the CFP playoffs. Nonetheless, the rumors started that A&M (or their boosters) had paid an enormous amount of money to the recruits to commit to the Aggies. In April, Fisher claimed the collective didn’t exist. When he responded to Saban’s accusations, he didn’t deny that the players had been paid, he just denied that A&M paid them directly. He denied that A&M had broken the laws of the state of Texas, but never denied that they had broken NCAA regulations.

On Early Signing Day for the Class of 2022, Travis Hunter, the #1 overall player in the class, flipped from a long verbal commitment to Florida State (Sander’s alma mater) to sign with Jackson State. By the end of the day the story had broken that Barstool Sports had offered Hunter a big NIL contract to allow them to document his freshman year playing for the Tigers. The day before, Sanders had said that Jackson State would shock the world while he was being interviewed by…… Barstool Sports.

He said it on Barstool Sports, and the NIL deal was with Barstool Sports, but that doesn’t mean Deion knew anything at all about it. Right? Right???

Saban, Fisher and Sanders clearly feel like they can’t be touched for any of these things, despite the circumstances that swirl around them. Why?

They have plausible deniability.

There is no evidence that they are directly connected to any of the things that appear to be happening around their program. That doesn’t mean they are innocent, it means they are smart. There is a way you are supposed to handle the bagman, regardless if he is a secret courier or an NIL collective.

Those coaches can sit in front of the press, an NCAA investigator or a Congressional committee and deny any wrongdoing. No one could convict them in a criminal court of law because no one could prove they were involved with any bagmen or NIL deals used to induce a commitment. They have plausible deniability, but no one who has paid any attention to college football believes those three men are telling the whole truth.

NIL: Dabo Swinney is proved correct again

Dabo Swinney can point to well documented factors to show he doesn’t just talk about principles, he practices them. He has been a late adopter of the transfer portal. He is unique in that regard. Clemson routinely offers fewer scholarships than any of its peers because they don’t believe in throwing out a bunch of offers that aren’t committable, even in the post-COVID era when evaluating talent has become more challenging. He doesn’t do these things to be popular. All you must do is visit a message board at one of the popular Clemson websites to see fans pulling their hair out because they think Dabo’s philosophies are hurting Clemson’s ability to compete.

Swinney’s principles & methods may not be progressive, but they do show he isn’t like the other coaches, and his program isn’t like their programs. There are no NIL rumors swimming around Clemson, and most people feel that is because Swinney hasn’t been quick to embrace it. He wasn’t quick to embrace the portal, he wasn’t quick to embrace changes to recruiting, so why would he embrace NIL?

While Saban, Fisher & Sanders have plausible deniability, Swinney has credible deniability.

I think the fact that he has enough constitution to do it ‘the right way’ suggests that Dabo wouldn’t handle a similar situation the same way the others would. Swinney could get away with calling out his peers for wrongdoing, but I don’t think he would. I think he would do exactly what he has already done – call for change in the sport in an effort to keep people from taking advantage of the situation. While he could call another coach a liar for accusing him of wrongdoing, I think Dabo would simply point to his track record and tell us to make up our own mind.

What would Dabo Swinney do? I think he would laugh. Then I think he would figure out how to beat the living daylights out of them on the field.

Enough of all this seriousness and professionalism – back to the trainwreck. Dabo Swinney is my favorite head coach, but Lane Kiffin isn’t far behind……