Clemson coach Dabo Swinney isn’t concerned about the future of the ACC.
While rumors have swirled about megaconferences, realignment and everything in between, Swinney didn’t seem too worried about the prospect of what conference Clemson may or may not be in.
In fact, he’s worried about just one thing at the moment — Georgia Tech.
“I think it’s a bigger question than just the ACC,” Swinney said Tuesday. “I’m not concerned at all. I’m just kind of like everybody else, where are we gonna be in two years or five years? As I’ve said a couple of times, I think most people know where college football is heading. It’s just a matter of when. Is it next week? Is it five years from now? Is it three years from now? I don’t really know, but I think most people that are really a part of this game can agree that ultimately, there’s gonna be a restructuring of college football. There’s gonna be a new governance structure at some point. I don’t think there’s any doubt of that.
“Where we’re right now is kind of like rounding second base and there’s a line drive and everybody’s kind of holding halfway to see if it got through. You either get on home or get back to second and go from there.”
Swinney reiterated that he’s really not concerned by any of the factors at play because his main focus at this moment is beating Georgia Tech. Swinney knows that there’s a lot of conversation that comes with it, but added that he hasn’t been distracted by any of the talks or speculation.
“Those decisions, all that stuff, it’s not made by coaches,” he said. “All that stuff is made by presidents and commissioners and all that. There’s a lot of smart people out there. I do know this, I’m thankful that we have a guy like Jim Clements and Graham (Neff). These are two very, very good leaders and good people that are incredibly plugged into all things college football.”
Swinney is just going to focus on what he can control at this moment, the rest he’ll leave up to Clements and Neff. At the same time, he acknowledges that playing in the ACC isn’t exactly a recruiting pull for Clemson, but neither was playing in the SEC when he was an assistant at Alabama.
“People have never come to Clemson because of the league we’re in, honestly,” Swinney said. “People come to Clemson because we’re Clemson. I spent 13 years at Alabama and I never recruited anybody to Alabama because we were in the SEC, they came because we were Alabama. And they’ve come to Clemson in my 19 years going on 20 because we’re Clemson.
“Christian Wilkins didn’t come here because we play in the ACC, ” Swinney quipped. “Christian Wilkins came here because we’re Clemson. And that’s who we’re and regardless of what happens in college football, we’re Clemson.”
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