Business of the ACC: Swinney’s lucrative autumn

Clemson’s passionate football fanbase is sitting on top of the world as the holiday season commences this year.

For the first time since the magical 1981 national championship season, the Tigers completed an undefeated regular season on the football field.

An Orange Bowl matchup awaits against Oklahoma on New Year’s Eve, and a victory would give Clemson a chance for the school’s second NCAA title against either Alabama or Michigan State in the College Football Playoff National Championship in January.

Someone else currently sitting on top of the world is Clemson’s head coach, Dabo Swinney.

As if it wasn’t enough that he led the Tigers to an unbeaten season and a nation’s-best 16-game winning streak, or that Clemson spent much of the regular season ranked No. 1, or that he became the first ACC head coach since Maryland’s Ralph Friedgen back in 2001 to win National Coach of the Year honors, Swinney stands to make considerably more money thanks to Clemson’s success on the field this fall.