Clemson coach Dabo Swinney can say a lot in two minutes, so it’s easy to get lost in translation.
That was the case for a radio appearance Sirius XM at ACC kickoff on wednesday. Swinnie talked about the future of college football, but his critics will stick to his view of the current sport. If you listen close enough, you will see Swinnie correct for both.
“In my opinion, I need a college football restructuring.”
Dubbo focuses on the future of reorganization and college football. @Chris_Spatola | @ AllHands81 | @TomLuginbill | #ACCKickoff pic.twitter.com/AxOvjzdFEF
— Sirius XM College Sports (@SXMCollege) July 21, 2022
Let’s start with Swinnie’s view of sports health in the present tense of the four-team College Football Playoff era.
“The unhealthy thing about this game is that people don’t have the opportunity or access,” Swinnie said. “I think it’s unhealthy. Soccer is not a tournament sport where 130 teams are currently competing for one trophy.”
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This is where Swinnie’s critics bite hard, especially the whole “tournament sport”. Football is almost a true tournament sport at all other levels, with the exception of FBS, which sticks to the College Football Playoffs of four teams with restricted access. Six of those 131 FBS schools joined for 25 of 32 playoffs.
The problem, like Alabama’s director Nick Saban, is that every time Swinnie laments the lack of inclusiveness, he induces a pharyngeal reflex. After all, Alabama and Clemson have made 13 playoffs and will be a popular pick to return to CFP in 2022.
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Therefore, no matter how many times Swinnie says his program is still Little Ole Clemson, the fact remains that it is Big Ole Clemson in ACC and in the current situation. This is part of the parity issue.
This is also not breaking news. Pay attention to the rest of what Swinnie said in those two minutes for good.
“Most soccer players know where this is going,” Swinnie said. “It’s a matter of time.”
Swinnie is at least one of those who has an informed idea of what’s coming next. Soccer will become a tournament sport in the future. When Big Ten added UCLA and USC, it brought its super-convention model one step closer to reality. It may take another 10 years to reach the final product, but Twinney will tell you what’s on the table.
“I think the mega-conference will stay here,” he said. “Ultimately it will be one big league with four teams from each division and each group. It’s a regional type and there’s a playoff of 16 teams or something. It’s probably there in the end. Become.”
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This is much more interesting than ripping Swinney’s view of the lack of parity. “One big league”, the college football Champions League model and the playoffs of 16 teams (a number not mentioned in the discussion of CFP expansion), may appear in the future. Swinnie doesn’t just draw these concepts from the Media Day playsheet.
The 16-team tournament fixes some of these parity issues in the sport. Sweet 16 is the time when the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is in full swing. That football version will be off the chart. Readjustment is part of the process of getting there.
What does that mean for Clemmon’s future at ACC? This is another frequently asked question that I know the conference is a bridge between the SEC and Big Ten and other college football. If the University of Notre Dame attends the ACC, the conference will be a solid third place in the situation. Otherwise, the conference could be subject to the same corporate raids as the Big 12 and Pac-12 in the last two seasons.
“I’m not sure if ACC will go to 52 teams or the new Megatron World Congress,” Swinnie said in a breakout session on Wednesday. “I’m not really worried about it.”
Swinnie focuses on leadership that leads sports to Chapter 2 of the College Football Playoff era. If this really becomes the new Megatron World Congress, who will be its Optimus Prime?
“In my opinion, we need a college football restructuring,” Swinnie said. “We need a new governance structure … we need to be a little clearer. For now, it’s all about chasing TV contracts and expansion. It’s all driven by the playoffs.”
Does that mean the death of the NCAA and the birth of a governing body that oversees the Superconvention? Does that body need to be equipped to handle NIL and transfer portal challenges while creating playoffs comparable to the NFL’s postseason?
Swinnie is right about all that. Large television contracts are ushering in an unprecedented restructuring move. It makes economic sense for USC and UCLA to join Big Ten, even if the geography does not match. It will change the way coaches like Swinnie see the game. It doesn’t make sense to think about the region. It’s a national sport now, and nostalgia is terrible.
“Changes aren’t always comfortable, especially if you’re over 40 and love tradition,” Swinnie said. “You love Oklahoma-Oklahoma. You love it. You love NC-North Carolina. You love Clemson-South Carolina. You love USC-fill-in- I love the-blank.
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Ironically here, the injured will also tear Swinnie in this regard. what do you want? We hope that more parity and more teams will have a chance to win the national championship. You need it in an environment where players are trading 7-digit NILs and coach salaries quickly exceed $ 10 million annually. You want pageantry and tradition, and it on Saturday without the pleasing fluff.
Sorry, that wouldn’t happen without the restructuring that Swinnie is looking for. You can’t hate him for that. Even Little Ole Clemson is aware that he lost some of the charm of the college town when he grew up to be a candidate for the annual national championship. Parity comes with a new playoff, but you’ll need a new model to get there.
This will spawn more Little Ole Clemson in a sport that has already been penciled in Ohio, Alabama for this year’s Championship Game.
It’s not a tournament sport right now. It is a monopoly that Swinnie happens to be part of it. That doesn’t mean he’s wrong about the present or the future.
Anyone who listens to it for two minutes can see it.
