You’ve seen it on “Last Week Tonight” by now.
John Oliver zeroed in on one of Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s sound bites, splashed in some snark and swiped at one of many multimillion-dollar coaching salaries in order to prove that college athletes should be paid. Voila! #SoybeanWind.
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Care to respond, coach?
“Well, I don’t have HBO,” Swinney told Sporting News. “I never saw the segment. I have no idea who John Oliver is, and a lot of that stuff goes in one ear and out the other. I was made aware of it, but that comes with the territory when you aren’t afraid to speak out and other people disagree with you.”
Swinney respects Oliver’s opinion and is not offended, but they are simply on opposite sides of one of college football's most-heated debates. Keep in mind this is a coach who spends most of the year trading barbs with Steve Spurrier. So backing down, well, that’s just not gonna happen.
“I’m a big believer in the student-athlete part,” Swinney said. “I value the education and what it provides for you. Football is a vocation. Only 1.67 percent of these athletes go on to the NFL. An education provides you an opportunity for a career. A lot of people just don’t get that. To say they aren’t getting anything is misinformed.”
So, we’re focusing on a $5 word Oliver used (edamame) instead of the word Swinney targeted in that bite (entitlement).
It's pretty clear Oliver doesn’t know who Swinney is. If there’s anything Swinney is not, it’s entitled. He’s the first college graduate in his family. He spent his first summer out of high school umpiring and cutting grass just to get a shot to play for Alabama as a walk-on. He eventually earned a scholarship, but he also left college with $33,000 in student debt. As Swinney puts it, “That was in 1992.”
Hey, Oliver has a show on student loan reform, too.
Swinney, meanwhile, worked as an assistant at Alabama from 1993 to 2000 and Clemson from 2003-08 — or 16 seasons — before getting that first head coaching job. He’s a success story, and he’s not the only one who feels this way (see: Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops).
“I didn’t get into coaching to make money,” Swinney said. “I got into this for the coaching and teaching part. I got into coaching and teaching full time for $38,000 a year, and I was OK with that. That’s one of the things with young coaches; you have to ask, ‘Are you getting into coaching for the right reasons?’”
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If education really is the focus, then Swinney has that part of the job description down. Clemson is the only school to rank in the top 15 in football and academics each of the last three seasons. Swinney advertises that without mentioning the Tigers have also put 30 players in the NFL Draft since 2008, including first-round picks C.J. Spiller, DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins.
Which one of those things do Clemson fans brag about more?
“Nobody wants to put a value on that education,” Swinney said. “For me, and I’ve been on record saying it, let’s create two leagues. One for players who want the college football experience, and another for those that want to get paid, have the NFL help fund it, whatever. Guys who don’t want to go to school to get an education; let them go to work.”
Swinney also is in favor of modernizing the student-athlete scholarship and says the right steps are being taken to give athletes stipends and other benefits. He realizes this isn’t 1992, but a few minutes in Oliver's cross-hairs isn’t going to change his viewpoint anytime soon.
“Things are better than they’ve ever been,” Swinney said. “Nobody wants to focus on the positives. I’m thankful for the experience and to be able to coach other young people on their journey through college football. It’s a privilege.”
