Dabo Swinney on the Transfer Portal: 'Tampering Galore'
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Clemson coach Dabo Swinney spoke his mind this Wednesday at the team's signing day when talking about a sensitive topic: the transfer portal.
"It's total chaos right now," Swinney said Wednesday at Clemson's signing day, per All Clemson. "Tampering galore. Kids are being manipulated. Grass is greener and all that stuff as opposed to putting the work in and graduating. There's no consequences. So now you've got agents and NIL, tampering, and you have no consequences. No consequences equals no conscience. There's no reason for pause, no barrier for young people, like, nothing. Education is like the last thing now."
Among Swinney's many gripes with the transfer portal is the impact on players and their education. The two-time national champion thinks graduation rates will suffer because of the portal.
"We're going to have a lot of young people that aren't going to graduate," he said. "Mental health is one of the biggest issues in college. There's a lot of kids whose identity is wrapped up in football and all this does is further that."
Ole Miss Lane Kiffin compared the transfer portal to free agency on Monday and rightfully so. Players have the freedom to choose where they want to play — something Swinney said he supported. However, he's not a fan of the current precedent that has been set forth.
"It's crazy, it's really sad, to be honest with you," Swinney said, per All Clemson. "There's right around 2,000 kids in the portal and most of them don't have anywhere to go. There's so much tampering going on and so many adults manipulating young people."
More College Football:
- Deion Sanders, JSU Land No. 1 Football Recruit Travis Hunter
- College Football Leaders Pushing a Change to National Signing Day
- Michigan State Makes Tate Myre, Oxford Shooting Victim, Honorary Signee
- All Clemson: 2022 QB Signs Letter of Intent With Clemson
For more Clemson news, head over to All Clemson.
