A lot of the coverage about Clemson the past few years has centered on Dabo Swinney and his ability to elevate the program from a regional ACC powerhouse into a national champion two of the past three seasons. While that emphasis on the head coach’s moves on and off the field have been paramount, it’s not the whole story in the Tigers’ transformation.
Namely, the program has had a ton of money behind it too.
The Greenville News is pulling back the curtain on one of the biggest sources of that funding in the form of IPTAY, the athletic department’s booster organization that helped Clemson close the funding gap between what the program takes in from the ACC and what other powers like Ohio State and Alabama take in from their leagues.
“Without IPTAY, we would not be where we are today,” AD Dan Radakovich said. “All athletic programs have fundraising organizations, because that’s just how this all works. Each place is a little different on what they do. Their ability to cover the cost of athletic scholarships is fairly normal. But certainly here at Clemson, IPTAY does so much more.”
He’s not kidding. Per the paper, the organization and ponied up an incredible nine-figures to help power this rise:
$360 million!
While it’s not uncommon to see Power Five athletic departments bringing in tens of millions in donations that’s an incredible figure. It certainly makes it more understandable as to why the school can build new football facilities with slides and make the resulting gains on the field as well.