Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney cannot be prouder of his players than he is right now, as they continue to step up, be vocal, set the tone and have taken charge as they articulate their thoughts and beliefs in today’s world of college football.

“It is a great group of young men and I cannot be more proud to stand alongside of them and support them and we fully support what they are trying to do here at Clemson,” Swinney said following Monday’s practice.

The Tigers wrapped up the fourth day of fall camp, but the talk was all centered around the news of the day as college football’s 2020 season continues to be in jeopardy due to COVID-19 pandemic. Following a whirlwind of news this past weekend, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, along with reserve running back Darien Rencher, got together with representatives from every Power 5 Conference Sunday night via Zoom and formed a coalition with the hopes of saving the football season.

Rencher tweeted the alliance shortly after midnight on Monday. The coalition has representatives from the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC and Big 12. The Pac-12 movement and the Big Ten United are also working in collaboration with the movement under the hashtags #WeAreUnited and #WeWantToPlay.

Besides trying to save the season and demanding they get the opportunity to play this year, the coalition also had five other demands, including the use of their voices to establish open communications and trust between players and officials; ultimately to create a College Football Players Association.

Swinney has no issue with the demand and is in full support of the players forming a Players Association. However, there was one caveat.

“I think it would be great to a have Players Association. That is different from a union,” Swinney said. “I will say that, but I do think having some type of Players Association, and really, to be honest with you, that is what we have here [at Clemson].”

Players currently have an association called SAC, which is a student-athlete advisory committee for all student-athletes of the NCAA. It has been around for a while and is for all sports. Swinney said a lot of good things have come from the organization over the years in athletics.

But he stands beside his players saying there needs to be something more, and college football players need to have a voice too in major decisions such as the cancelation of an entire season.

“There have been a lot of things that have come through the voice of all the student-athletes coming together, but football is kind of its own thing. It is unique,” Swinney said. “It is different than basketball. It is different than volleyball. It is different than baseball. Every sport has kind of its own situation and circumstances and things like that.”

The Clemson coach continued by saying his players have their own voice within the Clemson program through the Senior Leadership Council, as PAW Journey Ambassadors, the Swinney Council and the Swinney Huddle.

“We have had lots of communications, that is how we have made lot of decisions and a lot of great things have come to our program through our players and through their voice,” Swinney said. “So, I think that on a bigger scale, all throughout college football, would be awesome.”

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