Dabo Swinney talks 'new era' of college football with playoff expansion

After years of speculation about the College Football Playoff possibly expanding, the time has almost come.

The 2023 college football season will be the final one with a four-team playoff, before the playoff expands to 12 teams in 2024. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked for his thoughts on the College Football Playoff expanding for 2024 at the ACC Football Kickoff event last month.

“Let’s go. I mean it’s here. It’s going to be a new era, for sure,” Swinney said. “It’s going to be different. But you know, just embrace it. See if we can be in that final 12.”

Clemson has made the CFP six times under Swinney, going six straight seasons from 2015-20. After missing out the past couple of years, Swinney would love to get back this fall. Making the College Football Playoff in the final year of the four-team format is a huge goal for the Clemson head coach.

“It’s kind of interesting, this year will be really cool. That would be awesome to get to the last Final 4 this year,” Swinney said. “That would be a pretty cool thing to be a part of as that goes away. Kind of like from the BCS to the four-team, we’re graduating on.”

Swinney believes that expanding the playoff could also change the way teams schedule. With more teams getting in, there is more of a margin for error.

“I think it’s to be determined. There’s so many unknowns when it comes to that right now, because you know, what’s going to happen in other leagues as far as conference games?” Swinney said. “Do you continue to schedule major out of conference type games and things like that? So I think there’s a lot of questions that I don’t really have the answer to right now. But I think it’ll play out as we get rolling into that era.”

Dabo Swinney breaks down what it will take for Clemson to get back to CFP

In addition to talking about the expansion of the College Football Playoff, Dabo Swinney also spoke about what it will take for Clemson to get back there this year.

It seemed almost a given not too long ago that Clemson was going to reach the College Football Playoff every year.

The Tigers were in the CFP for six straight seasons from 2015-20, winning a pair of national titles and playing for two more. However, the past two seasons haven’t gone as planned.

The offense took a step back, due in part to inconsistent quarterback play, as Clemson suffered three losses in 2021 and 2022. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney spoke at the ACC Football Kickoff event last month about what it will take for the Tigers to get back in the College Football Playoff.

“A couple of plays, you know. If we’re a better pass defense and a better pass offense then we’ll have a chance,” Swinney said. “We’ve gotta do a little better job of taking care of the ball. We turned it over too many times. And we’ve gotta do a little better job of taking it away. But at the end of the day, we’ve gotta be better with our pass offense and better with our pass defense.”