Dabo Swinney has never been shy about speaking his mind and standing up for his beliefs. This time Swinney is, in my opinion, misguided.
It is ok to be wrong. We all have been guilty of percolating hot takes or ill-advised opinions. But Swinney’s insistence on not using the transfer portal, or more accurately marginalizing it as non-essential to the success and sustainability of his football program, has become a stale argument.
Last week, Dabo Swinney raised some eyebrows with a few comments in two separate interviews when quizzed about why Clemson did not take a transfer. Sure, some of it made sense. Parts of his statements invoke sentimentality and loyalty to his players. But here is the cold, hard truth:
Swinney’s loyalty is not always reciprocated, but some folk think that not using the transfer portal has hurt the football program.
The Tigers’ losses to the portal were not exceedingly high this time around. Only eight players between the end of the season and the end of the spring portal window departed the program for other destinations. That has not always been the case.
Clemson has collectively lost 35 players to the transfer portal since its inception. They have brought in less than five. That is an enormous net loss of players. Dabo proclaims how much he loves his players and reiterates his loyalty to him, but even those eight players who transferred this year, how loyal were they?
Dabo Swinney’s usual modus operandi is to fill any vacant scholarship spots with walk-ons who have waited their turn. That is all well and good, but there are numerous All-American players in the transfer portal. Could they not help the Tigers?
Swinney’s response was as predictable.
“It wasn’t necessarily an intentional thing,” Swinney told ACC Network during the conference’s spring meetings in Amelia Island, Fla. “There was a couple guys we looked at, but they’ve got to love you too.”
Dabo Swinney
In Swinney’s tenure at Clemson, he has yet to add anyone close to a starter-caliber player through the portal. Meanwhile, impact players like Beaux Collins and Andrew Mukuba are leaving Clemson with nobody of their caliber coming in who can immediately replace them or help out in the depth of the Clemson roster.
Anyone should readily agree that the Tigers do sign their share of four- and five-star prospects, but the reality is, that those prospects are not always ready the day they step on campus. Equally talented players from the portal are.
Of course, Dabo Swinney does his best to justify his stance.
“We like our guys. We like our starters,” he said. “We look at every position and say, ‘Coach Reed, you’re going to get two corners, do you want a transfer?’ ‘No, sir. I like my guys.’ We had 127 players go through spring, and 125 are still on our roster, post-spring. Maybe we should get a trophy.”
Dabo Swinney
And while we are at it, Clemson does not have a track record of signing large recruiting classes, at least not by comparison. A normal signing class for the Tigers is between 20-22 high school players. But in years past the Tigers have been known to take anywhere from 16-18 high school players. Those numbers do not add up when it comes to mitigating the losses.
Days later when Swinney was again asked about the portal.
“Most of the guys in the portal aren’t good enough to play for us,” opined Swinney. “That’s just the reality of it. I mean, we have guys that are backups at Clemson that go in the portal because they just want to have an opportunity. And most of them are graduates, by the way. But we have guys that are backups, and they want a chance to go play, and I’ve got no problem with that. Rarely do we have a starter leave Clemson.”
Dabo Swinney
“Most of the guys in the portal aren’t good enough to play for us,” opined Swinney. “That’s just the reality of it. I mean, we have guys that are backups at Clemson that go in the portal because they just want to have an opportunity. And most of them are graduates, by the way. But we have guys that are backups, and they want a chance to go play, and I’ve got no problem with that. Rarely do we have a starter leave Clemson.”
Dabo Swinney
Andrew Mukuba was not only was he a starter, but an All-American, as unfortunate as it was that he left, we hope that this does not become a trend.
Clemson football has not made the college football playoff since the 2020 season. Four years ago. That is a long way removed from the five consecutive years the Tigers got there and the two times out of three seasons in which they won the national championship in 2016 and 2018. That final trip to the playoffs happens to coincide with one very conspicuous thing. The true advent of the transfer portal.
Florida State, who supplanted Clemson atop the ACC a season ago, has used the portal immensely and to its advantage. Nobody is suggesting Swinney build the majority of his roster through transfers, only find guys that can supplement key positions.
Those players were certainly talented additions to the Seminoles and would undoubtedly excel at Clemson as well. However, diverging from that topic, it’s crucial to note that the aforementioned statement could have a lasting detrimental impact on Clemson’s opportunities to recruit transfers, regardless of whether Swinney expressed interest in doing so abruptly.
What do you think other coaches are going to say to those players? You already know that answer.
Dabo Swinney says players have “to love you, too.” Well, Clemson is still a strong enough brand that I can almost assure him that there are really good players who would line up at the door for an opportunity to play for the Tigers.
Obviously, the players who left the program did not want to play for the Tigers anymore.
Swinney, however, believes that Clemson already takes in transfers.
“Honestly, every player is technically a transfer,” Swinney proclaimed. “We just signed a whole class of guys transferring from high school.”
Dabo Swinney
Look at other programs at Clemson. The baseball team is among the best in the country. Men’s soccer is winning national championships. The men’s basketball team just made it to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in over 40 years. All three of those programs have a shared commonality. They use the transfer portal and many of their key contributors arrived in Tiger Town through it.
By no means are Clemson fans, me included, saying we do not trust Dabo Swinney. He did, after all, build a championship-winning program from virtually nothing. But now, it feels like the mansion is being neglected and weeds are beginning to grow through the cracks that were allowed to open.
Other programs, including the Tigers’ chief conference rivals, have stepped right through them. All we ask is that Coach Swinney seal off those openings. You can be loyal to the players who have stayed while giving a chance to those who want to be at Clemson.
And the football program will be much better for it. Swinney, in my opinion, is misguided. That does not mean it cannot be fixed while revitalizing Clemson football in the process. Dabo Swinney is a wonderful man and a heck of a football coach. I believe everyone is adaptable. I would simply like to see Swinney be open to change, too.
