Dabo Swinney discusses Clemson playing Notre Dame despite Irish not being an ACC team

Notre Dame is independent, and the Fighting Irish like it that way. With that said, the football program does have a long-standing agreement with the ACC to play a partial ACC schedule.

That may seem like a half-measure from Notre Dame — because it is — and especially in the ever-changing world of college football expansion, one would understand if the high-level members of ACC football such as Clemson and Florida State weren't super excited about the halfway-in approach. After all, the better the ACC is, the better the case a program like Clemson has for the expanded College Football Playoff. And if Notre Dame actually joined the ACC, rather than flirting with it, that would help the conference keep pace with the power-hungry SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked about that exact scenario at the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff. Can Notre Dame playing a partial ACC schedule actually be good for Clemson as well as the league?

It wasn't a full-throated endorsement, but Swinney certainly doesn't think it's a bad thing.

“I mean, I think anytime you can play good teams it’s good for you, regardless of if they’re in the league or not in the league,” Swinney said, per On3. “I think it’s great any time you can play great teams. Certainly, Notre Dame is one of those teams.”

Swinney is right that really, the only thing that matters is the strength of schedule when it comes to the CFP. With that said, we're seeing with the implosion of the Pac-12 that overall conference strength does matter for its long-term viability. With other conferences looking to start poaching to build a superconference, the ACC as a whole could really benefit by adding Notre Dame as a full-fledged member. They're already halfway there, after all. 

For now, it makes sense for schools like Clemson to remain content with Notre Dame's ACC involvement, but imagine if the expansion-hungry SEC, Big Ten or even Big 12 found a way to finally convince the Fighting Irish to join a conference?

If the ACC can't do it but a different conference does, that could spell doom for the conference's long-term survival.