Clemson’s Dabo Swinney gives his unique take on NIL: ‘We built this program in God’s name, image and likeness’

It is difficult to talk about college football these days without mentioning NIL. 

Clemson football head coach Dabo Swinney stepped to the podium Wednesday and made an interesting comment about how he used name, image and likeness in his program.

“We built this program on NIL. … We really did. It’s probably different than what you’re thinking though. We built this program in God’s name, image and likeness,” Swinney said during his early signing news conference Wednesday.

Swinney has always been vocal about his faith. The coach has been known to have full-on baptisms.

The two-time national champion coach has also expressed his feelings against college football adopting polices that resemble professional sports’.

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“As things have changed, God has always been the foundation of what I do,” Swinney added. “We’ve been dealing with his name, image and likeness for a long time. I think as this new era has come forward, God just continues to bless us here at Clemson.”

Swinney has been at Clemson nearly two decades, starting as a wide receivers coach in 2003. He has been the Tigers’ head coach since 2009 and is one of the highest-paid coaches in the country.

He signed a 10-year, $115 million extension in September. 

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Swinney has defended his sizable salary, and, in the past, he has said he does not have an issue with players being allowed to profit off their image rights.

His main issues seem to stem from what he views as a lack of oversight for image rights.

Whether Swinney completely agrees with how NIL is handled, he has to continue to adjust if he wants to be able to recruit the nation’s top football players.

With image rights in play, Swinney and his coaching staff are also tasked with finding creative ways to retain players after they join the program. The transfer portal has created a landscape that can be loosely compared to NFL free agency.

Clemson looks primed to have another top 10 recruiting class under Swinney. The Tigers sit in the No. 9 spot in the Rivals.com team recruiting rankings.