Clemson Tigers football head coach Dabo Swinney spoke about the program's struggles with NIL.
During an appearance on "Always College Football With Greg McElroy," Clemson Tigers football head coach Dabo Swinney spoke about the program's struggles with NIL.
Schools like Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Notre Dame hold advantages in areas such as alumni backing and financial reach over Clemson.
"At Clemson, we always have to have a chip on our shoulder," Swinney said. "It just is what it is. We don't have the same alumni base that other schools we have played and had to compete with over the years have. That's just the way it is.
"Notre Dame has their own TV station. They make their own rules. They print their own money. They got like their own money machine in the backyard or something. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Now it is just different. We do not have the same NIL budget as some places have. We do not have some of the same built-in resources from an alumni base and all of that type of stuff.
"We don't. But guess what? We never have. But you know what we do have? We have enough. We got enough. We just have to be good with what we have. ... We have won here for so long because we have been unique in how we have done things. We just have to continue to be that."
Clemson struggled in 2025, going just 7-6. Swinney's group lost the Pinstripe Bowl to Penn State, 22-10.
Swinney has been at Clemson since 2008. He is 187-53 in the regular season and 12-10 in bowl games.
It will be fascinating to see how Clemson does in 2026 after losing QB Cade Klubnik to the NFL. The New York Jets drafted Klubnik.
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