Dabo Swinney reveals whether Clemson could sign CJ Spiller in the NIL era

Former Clemson Star and current assistant coach of the Tigers CJ Spiller will be officially inducted into the Clemson Ring of Honor on Saturday before the Tigers' game against Virginia.

Spiller is one of the most important recruits in Clemson football history. In the mid-2000s, the former five-star recruit spurned the local Florida Gators came to Clemson primarily because of his relationship with the head recruiter Dabo Swinney.

Swinney was an assistant at the time, but during Spiller's college career he eventually got the interim head coaching job and eventually the permanent head coaching job.

Swinney was asked during his press conference on Tuesday whether he believes the Tigers would be able to win a recruiting battle like Spiller's in the current NIL era.

“I don’t know, you know,” Dabo Swinney said. “CJ is a unique guy, you know. Who knows. You can come up with all kinds of hypotheses, but I think CJ was born for Clemson.”

CJ Spiller signed with Clemson in the class of 2006 and had a historically good career. He holds the NCAA record with seven kickoffs returned for touchdowns and finished his career with 7,588 all-purpose yards. This number ranks third in NCAA history and is an ACC record. Spiller ranks first all-time among power conference players in all-purpose yards.

Dabo Swinney strongly believes that CJ Spiller should go to Clemson and that everything worked out the way God intended.

“I think nothing can stop what God wants,” Swinney said. “So what I think about it. I mean, that could mean someone’s recruiting is going down.”

The question for Swinney came after Clemson lost its quarterback commitment for the class of 2025 on Monday Blake Hebertwho transferred to Notre Dame. Although Swinney admitted that Clemson has some hurdles to overcome given the NIL's current situation, he believes the Tigers will do better in the future.

“Where we’re definitely moving forward,” Swinney said of the possibility of signing CJ Spiller. “Maybe the last two or three years have been more challenging because you're kind of relying on raising ZERO funds, which is difficult. But when it comes to revenue sharing, this is a crucial factor.

“It will be no different for us than for anyone else. So it's just a matter of everyone having the same amount of money, so you have to figure out how you want to divide it up, right. I mean, everyone makes local decisions. But I'm happy about it. I think that’s a great thing.”