Dabo Swinney is right: Coaches opinions don’t matter in College Football Playoff expansion fight

As the ongoing debate around expanding the College Football Playoff intensifies, with the ACC and Big 12 prepared to publicly endorse a 24-team format, the pressure is mounting on the SEC to change its thinking.

But, as the conversation deepens and opinions flow, the opinions of the head coaches who can garner headlines across college football are just that in this era of college football: opinions.

In the upcoming days, you will start to see a more vocal outcry from conferences like the Big 12 and ACC for an expanded playoff. In reality, this is all part of the plan, as the ACC wraps up its spring meetings in Florida this week.

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It’s the continued pressure that many within conferences outside of the SEC are hoping sways the opinion of those who have Greg Sankey representing them on the biggest stage.

The problem for others is that the SEC commissioner, along with some of those he represents, are sticking with a proposed 16-team format at the moment, and they split the majority power with the Big Ten over future expansion.

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“We’re trying to inform that with research. We’ve done that, from our perspective, with 16,” Sankey told reporters this week about the discussion around expansion beyond 16 teams. “We want to understand, through some analytic support, games that matter in an expanded environment, and games that might not matter.”

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The opinion of Dabo Swinney doesn’t matter. His words, not mine

But, that won’t stop some coaches in conferences like the ACC or Big 12 from voicing their opinions, which comes with the territory of being a school representative, and in some cases the highest-paid employee in each state.

And though it might sound great to have someone like Dabo Swinney come out in favor of an expansion that sees the field increase from 12 to 24 teams, his athletic director is not overly concerned with his opinion.

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No, that’s not a shot at the Clemson head coach, those are essentially his words from this week at ACC spring meetings.

“It doesn’t really matter what I think,” Swinney told reporters, while also noting that he has no control of what happens moving forward.

Bingo! Athletic directors are not looking for their coaches to be in agreement with the school’s philosophy on whether more teams should be added to the postseason.

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Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney waits to lead his team on the field before the game against Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., on Sept. 13, 2025. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Why? Because their opinion truly doesn’t matter in the long run for each institution. If you haven’t realized it by now, there has been an uptick in schools firing coaches over the past two years.

In this era, with so much money being spent on rosters and infrastructure across college campuses, their job is to get them in position to be considered for a playoff spot.

College coaches only carry so much weight in the grand scheme

Leave the business side to the athletic directors and presidents of each that are praying the football program is successful enough to continue generating enough money to keep them in the fight.

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Do you think former LSU athletic director Scott Woodward was garnering advice from Brian Kelly about whether additional teams should be added to the field?

Both of them are now out of a job, collecting substantial buyouts in the process. I don’t imagine Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter was basing his own opinion on playoff expansion off the advice of Lane Kiffin. The same can be said for plenty of schools across the country, like Indiana, Ohio State or Notre Dame, just to name a few.

Now, I would say that when the SEC decided to increase its conference schedule to nine games per season that plenty of school administrators were asking their coaches for input on how this would impact their chances of making the playoff.

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But, that’s about as far as it goes.

This is also another reason you’ve recently seen coaches from the SEC publicly discussing the expanded format, given that plenty of them were under the assumption that an additional conference game would equate to some type of playoff expansion, even if that meant 16 teams.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day shouts to his team during the first half against Rutgers in Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 22, 2025. (Jay LaPrete/AP)

Athletic directors are praying each hire works out, but opinions are just that

But, this era of college athletics has already led to coaches being on a shorter leash, given the amount of money being poured into sports that actually turn a profit. Meaning, while the athletic directors are certainly going to hear the head coach out, their opinion is only going to carry so much weight in the long term.

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So, Dabo Swinney was right. His opinion, though warranted and appreciated as a successful coach in the sport, is not going to be the reason why the College Football Playoff expands in the future.

That decision, which is being discussed at an increased level right now inside hotel ballrooms across the country, will come down to those who are hired to make the decisions that are best for each school and conference.

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Pressure on the SEC to give into a change to 24 teams is only going to increase from here, as other conferences across college football come out in favor of adding 12 teams to the fray.

And while the noise is certainly getting louder, this will come down to two conferences that control the future.

The battle rages on between the Big Ten and SEC, as others start increasing the volume of their opinions.

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