Why Clemson football's Dabo Swinney is happy in NIL, transfer portal era

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With the Clemson football team taking on the LSU Tigers to open the 2026 season, it marks another year of college football being in the era of the ascension of name, image, and likeness (NIL), plus the transfer portal. As Clemson football head coach Dabo Swinney looks for a bounce-back for the program, he expressed that the program is in a good place with the new additions to the system.

Swinney would appear on Stephen A. Smith’s self-titled show, where the analyst said that Swinney has been “reluctant to adapt” to the current era of college football with NIL and the transfer portal. The head coach would dispute that claim, explaining how the school has benefited from it.

“Yeah, I would say you’re 100% wrong,” Swinney said to Smith. “That’s one of those narratives that people throw out there, and somebody makes a clickbait thing, and then it becomes and takes on a life of its own. NIL standpoint, which started in ’21, we’ve won two championships. When the NIL started, that was hard for Clemson because NIL was just raise money. Rev [revenue] share is a game changer for us because we have money to share.”

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“The NIL was money you had to go raise, and so the rev share has been good for us,” Swinney continued. “And all I can tell you, you know, when people say stuff like that, like we lead the nation in retention, Stephen A. The last three years, they can leave any time they want. They can leave twice a year. There’s money. Lord have mercy, There’s tampering. You think these guys aren’t making money?”

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