Dabo Swinney predicts resting starters is 'going to happen' in 12-team CFP

Resting starters before the playoffs is something that has happened for years in the NFL. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney believes it will soon be happening in college football, too.

Swinney was asked at the ACC Football Kickoff event last month about the College Football Playoff expanding and some possible ramifications. With a 12-team playoff, Swinney believes some teams will rest starters late in the season if they appear to have a playoff spot locked up.

“I don’t think there’s any question that’s going to happen,” Swinney said. “I mean you’re basically kind of going to an NFL model from a playoff standpoint. The NFL has what, 14 teams? Is that what they’ve got? So you’re going to 12. It’s unfortunate. There’s always unintended consequences and that’s one of them.”

If a team is undefeated headed into its conference championship game or last regular season game and can afford a loss, Swinney predicts that some won’t risk suffering an injury.

He expects quarterbacks and other top players to sit out from time to time.

“That’ll happen. There will be situations, just like you see on any big tournament type sport. You see that in the NBA. You see that in baseball. You see it certainly in the NFL where they’re in the playoffs,” Swinney said. “I think that’s one of the downsides, one of the negative consequences. Again, [expanding the playoff] will probably still be a net good, but you adjust to it.”

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

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.”

The Tigers weren’t awful passing the ball or in pass defense last year, but they also weren’t at their elite standard.

Clemson ranked No. 66 in passing yards per game at 232.4 and No. 76 in pass defense at 231.7 in 2022. For comparison, when Clemson won the national title in 2018, it ranked No. 23 in passing offense and No. 24 in passing defense.

If Clemson can improve in those areas, it should be right there at the end of the year competing for a playoff spot. After all, the Tigers would have reached the playoff last year if not for a one-point loss to South Carolina to end the regular season.

“If we keep everything else the same… I mean we were one point away last year. One point. From being in the playoff. And if you get in the playoff anything can happen,” Swinney said. “So just gotta improve in some of the areas that we weren’t quite as good as we needed to be last year.”