Swinney: Cost of attendance 'a nightmare'

Dabo Swinney is worried about the impact cost of attendance scholarships could have. (USATSI)

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney believes that new cost of attendance scholarships are a good thing overall, but not every aspect of the new scholarships is a positive. In fact, Swinney said that when it comes to the difference between the scholarships from school to school, the situation is “a nightmare.”

“Oh, there’s no question. I mean, it’s a nightmare,” said Swinney during a teleconference on Wednesday. “I mean, I just think that the intent is good because I think we’re finally modernizing the scholarship to reflect 2015, and there’s a lot of positives that are coming about, even last year, being able to actually feed our guys like we need to be able to feed them. I think that was a positive. They tried the stipend thing. It didn’t go through. So basically this is the way that they’re getting that done, but there’s some unintended consequences, and there’s no question it’s not a level playing field, and it is going to be the No.1 topic at all the coaches’ meetings because it’s not good.

“I think, again, the intent is good, but for one school to be able to pay $3,000 or $4,000 more than another school, then at the end of the day, guys are going to make decisions for the wrong reasons, and it shouldn’t be that way. I don’t like where we are right now. We are where we are, but I think that there has to be a better solution somewhere down the road, and I think eventually we’re going to get there. But it is where it is right now, and it’s going to be a factor in the recruiting process, there’s no question.”

So, essentially Swinney’s concerns are recruiting related, which isn’t exactly a surprise. It remains to be seen what kind of impact cost of attendance scholarships will have in recruiting, as some schools will have more money to offer than other, but to pretend there won’t be any impact at all would be silly. Swinney is right when he says that there will be some kids making decisions for “the wrong reasons” and picking one school over another just because he can get more money there, but I happen to think that will be the exception, not the rule.

You know, like how sometimes coaches take a new job simply because it pays more.

As for the player’s perspective, at the end of the day, it’s not like this will be the first time a recruit has chosen a school for “the wrong reasons.” There’s a reason schools are constantly debuting new helmets and uniforms, and it’s because they’re a recruiting tool.

Has any recruit chosen one school over another simply because they liked the uniforms better? I’d hope not, but there’s no doubt that it’s been a factor. Cost of attendance scholarships will likely have a similar effect.

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