Swinney Not On Board With ACC's One-Time Transfer Stance

CLEMSON — Before the ACC made its statement last week in favor of allowing a one-time transfer to student-athletes in every sport, the conference didn’t ask one of its own coaches how he felt about the hot topic.

“Nobody asked me my opinions and nobody cares what I think,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “I heard about it like everybody else. I read it.”

When asked Wednesday if he was surprised the league didn’t consult its coaches, he replied: “Nothing surprises me.”

For the record, Swinney is not on board with what the ACC’s and Big Ten’s proposal to allow players to get one free transfer without having to sit out a season.

“I don’t like whatever’s been proposed,” Swinney said. “I don’t think it’s good for the player. I don’t think it’s good for college football.”

Statement from the ACC on transfer opportunity: pic.twitter.com/2oMEKNOSFB
— The ACC (@theACC) February 17, 2020

Following support from those two conferences, the NCAA announced last week it’s taking the massive change in college athletics under consideration.

There’s even talk if it passes that it could be implemented as early as August.

“I do think there needs to be some changes,” Swinney said. “Some of the rules are archaic.”

Under the current system, student-athletes in football, basketball and baseball must sit out a season if they transfer to another school unless they receive a waiver from the NCAA.

Obtaining those waivers have been under fire with several questionable decisions by the NCAA the last couple of years. The invention of the transfer portal has also brought changes to the system.

Swinney said he would be in favor of allowing graduate transfers to continue to go anywhere they want without sitting and for players who are affected by a coach leaving for another job or getting fired to be allowed to leave without penalty of a season.

He also wants no restrictions on where players can go.

“Other than that, you transfer, you sit,” Swinney said. “Simple as that. If you graduate, you get that year back. At least that would slow down what’s going to happen. What’s kind of going on now with the graduates is gonna go on with the freshmen. It’s going to go to the midyears. It’s going to go to the sophomores. And that’s not good for college football. It’s not good for the players.”

Swinney said the one-time transfer proposal would not “hurt” Clemson, but it would smaller schools, and that players would be recruited by other programs while they’re still enrolled at their current school.

“If the objective is to change it so everybody can go wherever they want to, why is it a one-time transfer? Coaches can leave next year, the next year, every year,” Swinney said. “Why can’t you leave every year?

“I think the intent is really good. I think there needs to be some common sense change to address the issue. I don’t like what’s on the table right now.”