Like every other college football coach, Dabo Swinney is approaching the finish line of a different kind of recruiting cycle.
The Tigers’ coach on Wednesday put what may have been the final touches on Clemson’s 2022 recruiting class with the addition of eight signees. Barring any late surprises or transfers, the Tigers have 21 newcomers that will join next season’s roster after inking 12 players during December’s early signing period (and recently bringing back quarterback Hunter Johnson).
It’s the first class Swinney has put together with name, image and likeness in play. Last summer, a policy adopted by the NCAA went into effect allowing student-athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL), which created opportunities for third parties to compensate players with sponsorships and endorsement deals. South Carolina also put its own NIL legislation into effect at the same time.
Of course, that’s created what Swinney called “unintended consequences” in recruiting. While schools can’t be involved in the formation of NIL deals, there’s nothing stopping boosters from enticing prospective student-athletes to attend their schools with them, which could create a bidding war, particularly at the Power Five level.
“The way it’s being used in some areas right now is not what it was intended for,” Swinney said. “But I think everybody is figuring it out.”
As for his experience recruiting for the first time amid the changing landscape of college athletics, Swinney said NIL opportunities weren’t much of a positive or negative in Clemson piecing together a class ranked 11th nationally in the 247Sports Composite. None of the Tigers’ signees in the 2022 class have publicly acknowledged an NIL deal to this point.
Swinney would like to think the success and the culture he’s established over the last 13 years, including a pair of national championships in 2016 and 2018, still resonates with the kind of players he wants to add to Clemson’s program.
“We’re never going to recruit leading with NIL,” Swinney said. “That’s an opportunity. We certainly have an opportunity to help anybody that wants to participate and use their name, image and likeness however they want to. But we always lead with who we are as a program and the purpose of this program.”
Swinney described potential NIL opportunities as “part of the process” when Clemson gets a recruit and his family on campus for a visit. They’re discussed just like the strength and conditioning program or academics would be, he explained. Swinney also said construction will soon begin on a new facility dedicated to educating current players on NIL and helping them maximize those opportunities.
“At the end of the day, 98% of these guys aren’t going to play pro sports. They have a short window,” Swinney said. “We need to help them maximize whatever opportunity they have. But we’ve got to do it in a way that keeps them focused on the long-term value of education, relationships, career development and all that stuff.
“We’ve got a great plan. We’ve got some really good opportunities for our current team and our future team. There will be things that will be said publicly at the right time, but we’re in a good place.”
But as far as Clemson’s approach in recruiting goes, Swinney is adamant that won’t change.
“I don’t think many people are going to come here – or at least I hope they don’t – because of the NIL,” Swinney said. “I hope they come here because this is the university they want to be a part of, the program they want to be a part of and people they want to be a part of.”
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