Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney says there needs to be 'complete blowup' of college football

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney said this week he thinks a lack of uniformity will lead to a complete restructuring in college athletics at some point. In particular, he sees the larger, more prominent Power 5 schools forming their own division in football.

«I think there's going to be a complete blowup… especially in football, and there needs to be,» Swinney told ESPN. «I think eventually there will be some type of break and another division. Right now, you got everybody in one group, and it's not feasible. Alabama has different problems than Middle Tennessee, but we're trying to make them all the same and it's just not. I think you'll have 40 or 50 teams and a commissioner and here are the rules.»

Swinney said the current system is a «mess» and that it's hard to get anything accomplished as college athletics continue to evolve and change in the new world of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness.

«There's so much bureaucracy and you can't get anything done in a real-time manner. It's frustrating,» Swinney said. «The communication is not good and the rules are outdated. Again, there have been a lot of positives when it comes to the scholarships. But you've got all these people voting on things, and it's just not apples to apples.»

Swinney emphasized that he's not against NIL, but remains adamantly against the professionalization of college athletics and anything that rises to the level of pay-for-play.

«I am against anything that devalues education,» Swinney said. «That's what I'm against. I am for anything that incentivizes education. People will come after me because I've always said that I'm against the professionalism of college athletics, and I am. Kids don't know what they don't