AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — As the NCAA attempts to resolve one lawsuit, Dabo Swinney says they potentially could cause another one.

What is Clemson’s head football coach talking about?

The NCAA, as part of its proposed new athlete compensation model, could eliminate walk-ons as a way to trim roster sizes from 115 to 85. Currently, the NCAA allows 85 scholarships for FBS football teams. Major programs like Clemson’s have another 20 to 30 players that are listed as walk-ons.

Of all the coaches in college football, its no surprise Swinney is not happy with this part of the proposal.

“I can say that is probably the worst thing I have heard since 1988,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Clemson Insider Monday at the ACC’s Spring Meetings at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia, Island, Fla.

Swinney walked on to the Alabama football team in 1988 and eventually earned a scholarship before becoming a starter on the Crimson Tide’s 1992 National Championship team. From there he went on to be a graduate assistant at Alabama, which turned into a full-time job, which ultimately led him to Clemson as its wide receivers coach, eventually becoming its two-time national championship head coach.

“I certainly would not be here if I did not have an opportunity to go chase my dream and prove that I could do something,” Swinney said.

The concept of removing walk-ons started to move across the landscape of college football last week, as administrators started going over the NCAA’s proposed compensation model.

If approved, the “no more walk-on model” could be instituted by the summer of 2025.

Swinney says if that happens, the NCAA will find itself in more hot water.

“That is probably another lawsuit. Everybody talks about lawsuits and all that stuff, that is probably another one that will be coming down the pike,” he said. “So, you understand roster sizes and things like that because that has always been the case, but to not have an opportunity for a young person to go to the school they want to go to, except the challenge, go pay your way and try to compete at a certain level. That is truly sad.”

There are a lot of things going on in college football right now with the lawsuits by Clemson and Florida State against the ACC, the transfer portal, NIL and other proposed NCAA rule changes. Swinney calls it all a “big pot of clay.”

“Hopefully, if (eliminating walk-ons) is in that pot of clay, it gets thrown out,” Swinney said. “Honestly, that will be a really sad thing.”

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