Dabo Swinney and Fran Brown are on two opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to college football roster management. They each have a son on their respective teams but only one is on scholarship.
I cannot wrap my head around the logic here.
There is a college football player on Clemson who is receiving scholarship money from his dad’s program when that money could instead be used elsewhere. The same cannot be said for Syracuse.
Fran Brown pays out of pocket.
Fran Brown was named as the 31st head football coach of Syracuse University on Nov. 28, 2023 after two seasons as the defensive backs coach at Georgia. His son transferred into the program in December after playing his first two seasons at Saint Francis.
Fran Brown Jr. is listed on the roster at long snapper and fullback. It brings his father great joy to coach him.
NCAA football teams on the Division-I FBS level can have a maximum of 105 total players on the roster. They are allowed to give out as many scholarships as they so choose, up to 105.
Brown chooses to pay for his son’s education out of his own pocket to keep an additional scholarship free. His salary likely hovers around $3-4 million per year so it is no big deal to pick up the tab.
Fran Brown’s decision to pay for Fran Brown Jr.’s education is great for the team and for optics.
Dabo Swinney lets Clemson pick up the tab.
Dabo Swinney was hired at Clemson in 2009. All three of his sons played college football for the Tigers. All three of his sons served as the Tigers’ holder — for each of the last nine seasons.
Will and Drew were not on scholarship because of the limits in place at the time. According to the ESPN broadcast on Saturday, the same cannot be said for Clay.
Clay Swinney initially joined the team as a walk-on. He is now on scholarship at Clemson because every player on the team receives a scholarship.
Dabo Swinney will at least $6 million more than Fran Brown in 2025 but Brown pays for his kid’s education while Swinney lets the school pay. Super lame.
At the very least — if Clemson must, by some arbitrary rule that I am not aware of, give out exactly 105 scholarships, Swinney could donate the money used on his son’s scholarship right back to his program. Or — how cool would it be if Dabo Swinney said, “my son Clay does not need his scholarship so we are instead giving that money to the equipment managers.” Something like that.
No matter how you shake out all of the numbers, the optics are the same from where I am sitting.