Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Speaks On Every 2026 Incoming Transfer

The Clemson Tigers had an offseason that began in a different way than ever before: more transfer portal.

Head coach Dabo Swinney welcomed in 10 transfers to the program on Friday afternoon, discussing a variety of topics involving the offseason thus far. He said that the Tigers had some “targeted needs” that were focused on, saying that “we went and filled all of them.”

Swinney says that he was very strategic about it, which helped land some players who were at the top of his position group.

“With the portal, we were very strategic about it,” he said, “as far as who we reached out to, how we wanted to set visits up.”

It led him to safeties Jerome Carter III and Corey Myrick, whom he dubbed as Clemson’s “top two safeties" in the pool. Swinney will also get multiple years out of both players.

“These guys are long. They can run,” he said. “They’re both all-conference players. These are really good football players, our process is the same, and they really fit and align with who we are here.”

As for other members of the secondary, Swinney said that speed was the quality he was looking for. Again, he got his top two guys, Elliot Washington II and Donovan Starr. Starr was a player that Swinney looked to recruit out of high school before going to Auburn.

“Both of these guys can run,” Swinney said. “So those four guys, we got some speed, some length, size and athleticism.”

The defensive line also saw a lot of moves with incoming transfers during this offseason. West Georgia transfer Kourtney Kelly and Oklahoma defensive lineman Markus Strong will join the interior. Swiney calls Kelly an “intriguing prospect”, while calling Strong “twitchy” from his time with the Sooners.

As for edge rusher London Merritt, that was the top choice for Swinney in the portal class, and he could make an immediate impact as a sophomore next season. He said that Merritt was a player that he “knew a lot about.”

“We recruited him out of high school,” Swinney said. “He’s a freshman all-conference guy there in the Big 12 at Colorado, super good fit for us.”

A later acquisition, Howard defensive end C.J. Wesley, is expected to bring “some real juice” to the room. A more unique pickup, Swinney found him through his former player, Artavis Scott.

“I think he ran a 4.56,” Swinney said. “225 pounds, and, you know, he’s got real juice, and so we wanted a little something different on the edge. He’s got length, so, again, we put it all together the way we needed to.”

The decision to get running back Chris Johnson Jr. came following the departure of Keith Adams Jr. to the transfer portal. Swinney said that “we wanted something different”, bringing in a different skillset to the group.

That skillset? Being “touchdown-fast.”

“He is fast-fast, and he brings a unique skillset when you’re talking about threatening horizontally and vertically,” Swinney said. “He’s touchdown-fast, meaning he breaks the tackle, it’s a touchdown.”

Having all of these new players next season, while also being able to retain players like TJ Moore, Bryant Wesco Jr. and Sammy Brown, Clemson should have plenty of ways to win games next season. Only time will tell to see how Swinney’s first true transfer portal class pans out going into next season.