For over a decade, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has been one of the biggest promoters of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC Football Kickoff is an annual event where Swinney has carried the flag for the conference.

Once again this year, Swinney was asked about where the conference stands and how he sees it stepping forward in the changing landscape of college football with NIL, the transfer portal and realignment among other issues.

“Just got to win. Just got to win. All that stuff is a lot to talk about, but it still comes down to what you do on the field,” Swinney said. “We got to win on the field. We got to continue to produce great teams year in and year out. I think we’ve been able to do that. We’ve had — there’s a lot of really good coaches and really good players in this league. You can go all the way back to ’05 and go back to ’13. This league has produced the second most draft picks. So the NFL is the best of the best, and they’ve been coming to the ACC at a high rate to take these players here.

“Great coaches, great players. You know, but at the end of the day we got to win football games. So my focus is on what we do at Clemson. I think we got a lot of really, really good teams in this league. Again, as I said, great coaches. Just continuing to compete at the highest level. Obviously we step out of conference, and you get matchups, and we’ve got to continue to win our fair share of those.”

As for Clemson specifically, the Tigers have been dominant on the field in the ACC for quite some time now, winning championships in seven of the last eight years.

Swinney was asked how he feels about the ACC today, and how he thinks Clemson’s brand itself benefits from the conference.

“Well, I mean, I think our conference has, again, done a lot of great things. I can only speak from Clemson, but we’re part of this conference. Just like some of these other schools that have done well, they’re a part of their conference,” Swinney said. “But I think we’re second in playoff wins since this thing came about and appearances. We’ve won on the biggest stage. Certainly not perfect, but as far as the brand, I mean, the ACC does a tremendous job in promoting our teams.

“Again, we’ve had a lot of consistency, and that’s a result of our brand because we got kids coming from all over the country. We got kids from California, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, and everywhere in between. That doesn’t happen if you don’t have a great brand. We’re certainly proud of the paw and what we’ve been able to do at Clemson. Also, all that the league has been able to do to promote us as well.”

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