When Dabo Swinney was deciding whether to charter flights for his team to and from the Cheez-It Bowl, he chose the "everyone get there on your own" option with one thing prominent in mind:

That option meant more money in the players' pockets.

This is but one example of Swinney's head not being in the sand when it comes to financial opportunities for his players. As he has stated plenty in recent years, he's all-in on finding more ways to get money to his players.

His main -- and legitimate, in our mind -- sticking point has also been that the new structure for compensating players should be tied to education and graduation.