Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has made clear his stance on College Football Playoff expansion, saying although he wasn’t surprised about the proposed expansion from the current four-team CFP to the 12-team format, he is not in favor of it.
Clemson director of athletics Dan Radakovich, who was a member of the CFP selection committee from 2014-17, can see why some have been clamoring for playoff expansion and gave his take on it during a guest appearance on “Out of Bounds” with William Qualkinbush and Kelly Gramlich on WCCP 105.5 FM The Roar on Thursday.
“I think that from the time the playoff began with four teams, there was always just this echo out there of making it larger,” Radakovich said. “So, I think it had to have some experience, and it’s had seven playoffs now. There’s been a few teams – and we’ve been very fortunate – Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma have taken a number of those spots. And I think around the country, people are saying well, those folks are really good and their programs are great, can we expand the playoff to have more inclusiveness with other programs? Because as you look at postseason championship opportunities, football is by far the smallest percentage of teams that get to go into the postseason with an opportunity to win a championship. So, from that perspective, I certainly understand the idea of expanding [from] four.”
Radakovich added that while he feels playoff expansion would be a positive thing for college football in general, his biggest concern comes when he looks at it from a logistical standpoint.
“Because we’ve been fortunate enough to be in those games, we understand what a toll it takes on the student-athletes and how difficult it is to move a football team and a marching band, as well as all of our fans and our parents to these various locations,” he said. “So, the logistics are the thing that gives me the most pause to be able to figure those things out.
“But I think all of us in college football knew at some point in time it was going to expand. Whether it gets to 12 or there’s models of 10 or 8, that’ll be up to the board of directors and the College Football Playoff to ultimately decide. But I think the addition of various spots into there overall will be really good for college football.”
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