CLEMSON — During his Wednesday conference call with the media, a reporter brought to Dabo Swinney’s attention a report from the Athletic earlier this week.

The national website in collecting data from all the Power Four schools, ranked each school based on how much estimated money they spent on the football roster this season.

Clemson ranked just outside the top 20, according to the report, spending an estimated $29-$32 million. Athletic Director Graham Neff reported over the summer the athletic department spent $30 million on football for the 2026-27 academic year.

The Tigers, against the four P4 teams they have played thus far, are 2-0 against teams they have spent more than and 0-2 against those who spent more than Clemson.

Of course, Miami and LSU have spent an estimated $44-$50 million on their rosters this year—Clemson’s two losses—why North Carolina and Cal have both spent an estimated $20-$25 million for theirs—the Tigers’ two wins.

Coincidence?

Swinney was asked if he felt Clemson was spending enough money on its football roster.

“We spend what we got. You can’t spend more than you got,” Swinney said. “So, we try to make every penny that we have (count). We use it to our very best. That is what we do.

“It is not like we hold anything back. We spend everything we got. We maximize our resources, but that’s got nothing to do with it. We have to play better. We have to coach better. We have to do a lot better. We have had plenty of opportunities and we have to continue to put in the work and get better and better each and every game.

“Hopefully, we will have some more opportunities down the road to play better.”

The reporter followed up and asked if there was any way Clemson could increase those resources down the road to help build future rosters.

“You have to talk to the athletic department about all of that stuff,” Swinney said. “We got what we got. We got nothing (left). We used every bit of it. We have a team that is better and will continue to get better, but we have to be able to certainly compete, retain and acquire those things. That is all a part of it.

“We have gotten a little bit better each year, as far as we have had available from a revenue sharing standpoint and all of that, hopefully, that will continue.”