Dabo Swinney didn’t have much to say regarding the Nick Saban-Jimbo Fisher controversy that has dominated the college football headlines recently.
Fisher labeled Saban a “narcissist” after Saban accused Texas A&M of buying many of their new top recruits. Other coaches weighed in on the controversy between the two, but Swinney wasn’t interested.
While visiting the Lowcountry region of Charleston, South Carolina as part of Clemson’s annual Prowl & Growl tour on Tuesday, Swinney told reporters that his focus was on his team and nothing else.
“My focus is on the Tigers,” Swinney said. “I ain’t getting involved in all that stuff. I’ve had plenty of comments on NIL.”
WATCH: Clemson coaches Dabo Swinney and Brad Brownell visit the Lowcountry for the first @ClemsonTigers Prowl and Growl in 3 years in Charleston. We asked the coaches what they thought about last week's verbal spat between Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban@Live5News pic.twitter.com/rIiJAOLA3M
— Kevin Bilodeau (@KevinLive5) May 25, 2022
Swinney made his opinions on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules known in an April interview with ESPN’s Chris Low.
While he said that he was not against NIL rights, Swinney didn’t agree with removing the amateur status for college athletes.
“I am against anything that devalues education,” Swinney said. “That’s what I’m against. I am for anything that incentivizes education. That’s a slippery slope if you professionalize college athletics, and now you’ve got salaries and taxes and you can fire kids on the spot and they’ve got to pay for their tuition and they pay for their housing and everything else.”
Swinney said earlier this offseason that college football is in for some major changes. Saban and Fisher’s public spat may have further expedited the process.
