Dabo Swinney opens up about Clemson's NIL limitations

Clemson enters a pivotal 2026 season under longtime coach Dabo Swinney.

Swinney has won a pair of national titles in his 18-year run with the Tigers, but returns have diminished over the last few seasons. The program reached its modern nadir in 2025, and its 7-6 finish was the worst since Swinney's second full season in 2010.

It was also the first time Clemson had finished a season unranked since that campaign 16 years ago.

As Swinney looks to turn things around this fall, he was transparent in an interview with ESPN's Greg McElroy. He conceded that Clemson doesn't have the same resources as some of the sport's top programs and must lean on development more than other schools.

Still, he believes his team has punched above its weight class.

"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 some places have, we don't have some of things that some of the things that some of the schools have that we've played over the years. That's just the way it is.

"We're 3-1 against Ohio State. We're 4-2 against Notre Dame. I mean, 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."

Critics of Swinney's have pointed out that Clemson has been slow to adapt in the modern era of college football, both in terms of NIL resources and utilization of the transfer portal. Swinney has moderated on both fronts, and the Tigers added 10 transfers this offseason compared to four in 2025 and zero in 2024.

Clemson has a lot of production to replace, however. Despite the disappointing final record, the Tigers had nine players selected in the 2026 NFL draft. Only three schools had more.

Multiple key starters on defense are gone, as is three-year starting quarterback Cade Klubnik. The Tigers are hoping for a bounce-back campaign as skepticism of this program's place in the modern sport grows, but according to their coach, they face some institutional challenges in doing so.