Paul Finebaum rips Dabo Swinney's comments about NIL in college football

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney sounded off on new NIL rules across college football, saying that he's dead set against anything that could suggest players are being paid to play the game.

ESPN host and college football watcher Paul Finebaum heard those comments from Swinney, and he wasn't pleased.

"Dabo's specifically against 'pay for play,' which, guess what, that's what we're talking about here [with NIL]," Finebaum said.

"Dabo is very antiquated in his view. It's almost as if Dabo is an 85 year old coach like his mentor, as opposed to a young guy, which he supposedly is. Yeah, I think he tolerates what's going on today. 

"But I think he's saying, 'I'm really disgusted with it. We haven't quite figured out a way here at Clemson to gin the system like some others and we're now behind. Four years ago, we ran college football.'"

USA Today Images

Finebaum: Dabo is "Holier than thou"

"He is holier than thou, I mean we're talking about Dabo Swinney here," Finebaum said.

"And Dabo is not in favor of player rights. I mean, he survived. But it's obvious that Dabo is not for today's players getting their due. Now, I'm not saying everyone is. But if you're going to exist in 2022, you need to stop with the self-righteous routine."

This ain't the SEC

Swinney led Clemson to six straight College Football Playoff appearances and won two national championships with the school, and leads what figures to be another highly-ranked team in the 2022 season.

And, despite both of Clemson's titles coming against Alabama, Finebaum isn't as impressed with Dabo's record there as he would be if he coached in the SEC.

"Let me say this about Dabo Swinney: he's fortunate not to be playing the SEC, because had he been playing in the SEC last year, he would've lost a lot more than three games," Finebaum said, referring to Clemson's 10-3 mark in 2021.

"In the ACC last year, you had Wake Forest and Pittsburgh. Those were your two best teams," he said. "Who were the two best teams in the SEC? Alabama, Georgia. Any comparison? No."

Whoever he's playing against, Swinney is projected to be one of the 10 highest-paid head coaches in college football this season with an estimated yearly salary of $8.5 million.

---

More from College Football HQ

2022 ACC football preseason power rankings

Clemson football schedule for 2022 season

Ranking Clemson's 2022 football opponents

Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Facebook | Twitter | Flipboard | Newsbreak