The transfer portal will be the downfall of Dabo Swinney’s Clemson
Staying true to the culture is one thing, being stubborn is another.
There are not that many resumes that could match Dabo Swinney as Clemson’s head coach. Since 2009, Swinney has won 2 of the only 3 national championships in Tigers history. And in his tenure, there’s one glaring, recurring theme in the way he builds the culture and handles recruiting — never use the transfer portal.
Though the word never might be an overstatement. Swinney himself has never admitted that they bar their program from using the transfer portal, stating that they definitely would use it in case of a “good fit.” Now, whether that statement is just Swinney trying to steer clear of the whole situation or is the actual truth, it doesn’t change the fact that an overhauling needs to take place, and it needs to happen fast.
With the NIL deals dawning upon NCAA, numerous athletes have decided to enter the transfer portal in hopes of landing a hefty paying contract. While it is true that this change doesn’t only affect Clemson but the whole football landscape, it has been evident that they are the ones receiving the greatest recoil.
Just in the SEC, some reports have been floating around the internet revealing that this off-season, Texas A&M splurged around 20–30 million USD in their recruiting with the help of their sponsors. Along with the Aggies, Alabama has also been ironically on a roll, landing top talents after top talents through NIL deals and the transfer portal. The point here is that as everyone’s adapting to the change surrounding College Football, Clemson refuses to acknowledge the change afoot and still go about things as they have always had — a scenario with a foreseeable bitter end.
In recent history, the transfer portal appears to be a one-way avenue for the Tigers. And by that, I mean, for the worse, only snatching recruits away from the program. This year, they’ve already lost 9 players to the portal and have gained 0.
As long as Dabo Swinney continues to tout and be stubborn about Clemson’s culture as a “developmental one,” the chances of them hoisting the Natty trophy again leans from slim to none.