CLEMSON — Dabo Swinney had the guts to do something no one else in college football will do – he turned in a cheater.

Clemson’s head football coach, who prides his program for doing things the right way, called out and turned in Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding to the NCAA for tampering with former Clemson linebacker Luke Ferrelli. The sophomore was already enrolled at Clemson, attending classes, team activities, workouts and most importantly was no longer in the transfer portal.

Swinney was very detailed in his description of the events that took place, which led to Ferrelli re-entering the transfer portal and then ultimately signing with Ole Miss.

But Swinney did just turn Ole Miss in. He also offered a solution.

He spoke about a solution that could end all of the tampering issues, the NIL troubles, the transfer portal problems and head coaches leaving their school early for another job.

Dabo Swinney basically offered his services.

His services for what?

His services to be college football’s first commissioner.

Okay, he did not exactly offer them as much as I am suggesting them.

 Why should Swinney be college football’s first commissioner?

Why not?

Swinney is a man of high character. He has high moral values. He loves college football. He values education and he truly cares about the players.

If you have not, go back and listen to his idea of fixing college football. Go back and listen to what he said about the game. Go back and listen to what he said about education. Go back and listen to what he said about helping the players.

We all know Dabo Swinney’s story. He came from a broken home in Alabama. He and his mom were homeless at one point, as they crashed on his friends’ and coaches’ couches.

Swinney did not have a scholarship when he first went to Alabama. He paid his way to school. He took out loans and worked odd jobs to pay for school.

He then walked onto the football team and ultimately earned a scholarship. He became a starter on a national championship team.

After his playing days were over at Alabama, he did not have the luxury of going to the NFL. No, he wanted to be a football coach. He was offered an opportunity to be a graduate assistant at Alabama.

He later became an assistant coach. But life still was not easy.

Swinney was ultimately on staff that was fired at Alabama. He was unemployed and looking for a job.

Though he was not giving up on his dreams of being a head coach one day, Swinney took a job out of football. And though he was making a lot of money in commercial real estate, he was not happy. He still wanted to coach.

Tommy Bowden gave him that opportunity at Clemson. Again, it was not easy. Bowden and his staff nearly got fired in 2003. However, they survived it.

In 2008, they did get fired. However, Swinney was given the interim head coaching job at midseason and an opportunity to turn things around.

It was not easy, but he found a way to motivate his players, as he became the first interim head coach to earn the head coaching job in college football. He led Clemson to a 4-2 record in the back of the season and a berth in the Gator Bowl.

We all know the rest of the story – 9 ACC Championships, 7 College Football Playoff appearances, 4 National Championship Game appearances, 2 National Championships and a whole lot of winning.

But what Swinney is proud of the most is that his Clemson teams have done it the right way. They have won with class, character and dignity. They have not cut corners. And the most important thing to Swinney is that his players have graduated and they are now leaders in their communities, jobs and households.

And that is why Swinney should be College Football’s first commissioner.