During his radio call-in show Monday night, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney fielded a question from a caller about name, image and likeness, and how the new NIL rules are affecting him and his staff.

Of course, the new NIL policy adopted by the NCAA this past summer allows all college athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness.

Swinney was asked by the caller — since Swinney is always preaching “team” and putting “team” first over any individual player — how the new NIL landscape is affecting him, how he does his job and the way he manages his locker room, with some players profiting more from NIL than others.

“It definitely makes it harder. There’s no question about that,” Swinney said. “But it’s just something that we’re always trying to build ‘team,’ and we’re living in a world of ‘me.’ That’s kind of what we’re battling. I grew up with ‘team.’ So, it’s something that we work really, really hard on. But it certainly makes that job a little harder for everybody.”

Swinney added that while he hasn’t noticed any NIL-related problems with his players to this point, it’s something he has to keep tabs on, and he also mentioned how NIL can not only impact teams within locker rooms but have an impact on the recruiting landscape as well.

“I haven’t seen any issues as far as any of our guys or anything like that. But it’ll be something that you’ve got to really keep your eye on as you move forward,” Swinney said. “And then there’ll be some issues in recruiting and things like that because boosters can get involved, quite frankly, and that’s what’s going on. But it is what it is. It’s 2021, and you’ve got to do the best you can and make it work.”

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