With college football playoff formats constantly evolving, Swinney made it abundantly clear that he does not waste mental energy debating the ideal layout of the postseason bracket. Whether the postseason field features four, 12, or 32 teams, Swinney insists that Clemson's formula remains unchanged: focus on what is earned on the field.
Swinney emphasized that Clemson's championship standard has translated seamlessly across every competitive era of modern college football history.
"I don’t know. I don’t care. At the end of the day, for me in my role, I don’t really have a say in it. I can have an opinion, but it doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day, it just comes down to what we earn. That’s all that matters. Whether it’s four, eight, twelve, twenty-four, thirty-two. My job is to try to earn an opportunity to get there. And you know, the one thing I would say, I mean obviously I’ve been at Clemson a long time. And we’ve won in every era. You know, even in this new era, where people say we don’t know how to."
Swinney mapped out the program's stellar postseason history to remind critics of Clemson's permanent residence on the sport's biggest stages.
"We’ve won a championship and been in the playoff in this era. So when it was a BCS, we made it to the 2013 Orange Bowl and played Ohio State, and we were a part of that BCS system. That was fun. When it went to a final four, we got to six of those. And then there’s been two years of the twelve-team, and we’ve been in one and not the other one. So we’ve made fifty percent of those. If it goes to sixteen or twenty-four or thirty-two, I don’t know what the magic number is. I know that there is probably a lot of change coming toward college football in the next three to five years. I do know that. I don’t need a crystal ball to see that; that’s going to happen. But I just kind of operate in where I am at right now and what the situation is."
The head coach is content to leave administrative decisions to the bureaucrats, remaining singularly focused on putting his team in a position to strike.
"I don’t know what the magic number is. I’ll let everybody else figure that out. All I know is, whatever it is, it’s my job to try to help our guys earn an opportunity to be a part of that."
Clash of the Tigers: The LSU Opener
Peering ahead to the explosive season opener, Clemson faces a monumental introductory test, traveling down to Tiger Stadium to square off against an elite LSU program led by head coach Steve McClain. Swinney acknowledged the fierce environment and competitive standard awaiting his squad in Death Valley South.
"Going to be a huge challenge. Great program, great coach, great players, great environment. Game day and all that stuff will be a great opportunity, but a huge challenge."
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