What Dabo Swinney really said about Name, Image and Likeness

CLEMSON — Dabo Swinney has been trending on Twitter all day after old comments he made more than seven years ago resurfaced.

In 2014, Swinney said “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.”

Swinney has since clarified that he was referring to players being paid a salary, something that will not take place with the new Name Image and Likeness rules, which went into effect Thursday.

As for NIL, Swinney has said multiple times in recent years that he is in favor of it. In October of 2019, when the NCAA first announced that it would vote on changing NIL rules down the road, Swinney called it a “good step.”

“Hopeful that something positive can come from it. It’s really created great conversation. Sounds like they’re getting a group of smart people together and figure out what they need to do to address it but keep it within the collegiate model, value on education, all those things,” Swinney said. “I think it’s a good step. Sounds like they’re serious about trying to get the right people in the room and figure out the parameters or best case to move forward.”

Nearly a year later, as Name, Image and Likeness talk was heating up, Swinney again said the change would be a positive one.

“It’s exciting, because hopefully there can be some, as I’ve always said, modernization of the scholarship,” Swinney said last summer. “There’s a lot of unknown right now, but I think there can be some positives that come from it that are great for the players. … For me, the big thing is some type of national standard. What are the rules? How does that apply evenly to everyone?”

Clemson has helped D.J. Uiagalelei and other student-athletes grow their brand. (Ken Ruinard/Greenville News)

Swinney understands the value of education and told ESPN last summer that he would like to see the money tied to graduation.

While that ultimately is not what happened, it’s not as if he’s been outspoken and said he is against the model that is currently being used as of Thursday. He simply said that if he had a choice, the money would be tied to graduation.

Not only has he not been outspoken against NIL, Clemson has gone out of its way to help prepare athletes to profit from their Name, Image and Likeness.

Clemson Athletics has worked with Opendorse since 2015. Last summer, athletes began receiving content through Opendorse. In the past year, Clemson has delivered 50,000 pieces of content to student-athletes through Opendorse and student-athletes have downloaded over 40,000 pieces of content.

Now companies will be able to view the profiles of Clemson players on Opendorse, see how big their reach is and strike deals with players.

Dabo Swinney built a powerhouse at Clemson by having a strong vision and forward-thinking plan for his program.

When a coach leaves, he has a list of assistants ready to turn to. While other programs around the country are happy to accept transfers, Swinney prefers not to in order to maintain his program’s culture. Last season as Clemson tried to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Swinney had a plan for everything that his team could possibly face.

Clemson and Dabo Swinney have known that NIL was coming for a long time, and contrary to old quotes that have nothing to do with NIL, they are embracing it.

“We’re gonna support our guys, just like we always have, with the best possible resources that are out there,” Swinney said last summer. “We’ve always done that, whether it be nutrition, strength and conditioning, coaching, academics or Paw Journey. Everything that we can do within the rules, we’ve always been committed to doing that and trying to keep getting better. So that would be no different.”