Dabo Swinney has a vision when it comes to the way the sport of college football handles the rules surrounding eligibility and redshirts.

The way the rules are written today, players have five years to play four seasons. However, with the advent of the transfer portal and what seems like unlimited medical waivers, the sport has seen guys playing beyond their mid 20’s. In fact, when Louisville comes to Clemson this weekend, they will do so with a starting quarterback in Tyler Shough that just turned 25 years of age last month.

However, Swinney has an idea that he believes would solve some of those issues, including the high number of opt-outs the sport has seen over the past couple of seasons. The longtime head coach said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday that he would like to see the redshirt done away with altogether in favor of just giving each player five years of eligibility.

“Honestly, I hope they do away with all of that,” Swinney said. “I wish they’d just do five years and be done with it. Just clean it up. So you don’t have guys that are 26 (years old) and all the medicals and all that stuff. Just get five years. I think that would really clean things up for everybody. I think it will stop a lot of the opt-outs too.”

The way the rule is currently written, a player can play in up to four regular season games and still redshirt. Swinney said an “unintended consequence” of that has been guys playing in four games, deciding to transfer, then deciding to sit out the rest of the season to avoid losing a year of eligibility. Clemson experienced that very thing back in 2018, when quarterback Kelly Bryant left the team after four games, then transferred to Missouri after that season.

“I get it. A kids not happy where he’s at, he’s played four games and really wants to move on, wants to save a year. You’re going to get that,” Swinney added. “But in this, if you just went for five years, guys would play. So now that keeps your rosters a little bit more intact to finish the season. I don’t know where that is on the docket, but I would like to see that. Just get five years. Play five years. Doesn’t matter how many games you play.”

With each passing year, the number of opt-outs across the sport increases, and Swinney is just looking for a way to help combat some of that in an effort to help coaches better manage their rosters. Unlike the NFL, a college team can’t make trades, or go to a practice squad, when someone on the team opts-out.

At the same time, the head coach isn’t campaigning for doing away with medical waivers altogether. In the event of a season-ending injury that causes a player to miss most of, or maybe even an entire year, Swinney believes every player should be eligible to receive a maximum of one.

“I just think five years to clean it up. Maybe you get one medical opportunity,” Swinney said. “Then that way you get to manage the rosters. Everybody could play. Kids don’t have to feel like they got to leave or they got to stop playing, because, again, I get that side of it too. They’re not happy, or they don’t like their situation. They don’t want to waste a year. That way they can keep playing and keep developing, and they can move on afterwards and not lose it.”

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