Dabo Swinney irked by proposed roster changes, impact on walk-ons - ESPN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — College football might soon say goodbye to walk-on players, and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, a former walk-on player at Alabama, said it will be a huge loss for the sport.

As part of the settlement in the House vs. NCAA case, schools can no longer be limited in the number of scholarships they offer, although roster sizes can still be capped. Administrators were quick to push for a lower cap — likely between 105 and 110 players, according to multiple sources — to reduce expenses that would come with a huge jump in scholarships.

The result will be that many current walk-ons will be forced out of participating on their current teams, causing an uproar among coaches.

«This is the most united coaches have been in the history of football,» Swinney said. «It's so frustrating.»

Swinney began his career as a walk-on receiver at Alabama, earning a scholarship after two years on the scout team. That experience, he said, led him to a job as a graduate assistant and, eventually, as a receivers coach for Gene Stallings and, ultimately, to being a two-time national championship-winning head coach at Clemson. Had he not been able to walk onto Alabama's team as a freshman, however, none of that would've happened.

«That doesn't happen if [Stallings] hadn't seen me,» Swinney said. «I can't even imagine how different things would've been.»

North Carolina coach Mack Brown said that the son of passing game coordinator Lonnie Galloway, the son of a trustee, and sons of several former Tar Heels players are all among the walk-ons in Chapel Hill and that if the situation isn't addressed, he'll have to cut all of them loose.

«I have to tell them in January they can't play football anymore. That's the hardest thing for kids. The