Dabo Swinney Defends Clemson's Transfer Portal Approach

Dabo Swinney and Clemson are known for not taking full advantage the college football transfer portal, and now the Tigers head coach is addressing critics of his program's approach

Using the transfer portal has become a major tool for college football programs to build and re-build their rosters during the offseason, but Clemson has notably avoided the portal, despite the chorus of criticism the school and head coach Dabo Swinney have received as a result.

Swinney defended his transfer portal policy during the ACC spring meetings and again emphasized his interest in recruiting players straight out of high school, while adding that he doesn't really think any of the players in the portal are good enough for Clemson.

"Most of the guys in the portal aren't good enough to play for us." @ClemsonFB HC Dabo Swinney explains to @RoddyJones20 the three types of players in the transfer portal and why none of them landed in Death Valley. #ALLIN

Hear the full interview: https://t.co/0qgyAQVk3y pic.twitter.com/9HFwUY4BfX
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) May 16, 2024

"There's three types of players in the portal," Swinney said, via SiriusXM. "It's really pretty simple. Most of the guys in the portal aren't good enough to play for us. That's just the reality of it...

"The majority of guys, they're guys that are in the portal because they want to have a chance to start somewhere. They're not playing where they are.

"They're not good enough to come in and play for us. We'd rather take a good high school player as long as we can get them, which we do, and you develop them."

This offseason, Clemson became the only Power Four school in the country to not accept a single transfer, while losing a dozen players to the portal, including wide receiver Beaux Collins and defensive back Andrew Mukaba.

"The second type of guy that goes int he portal is he's only going in the portal as a formality because the deal has already been done," Swinney continued.

"He knows where he's going before he ever goes in the portal. So we're not getting that guy. And then the third type of guy is going in the portal just to see what he can get, and we're never going to win that war."

The use of NIL deals and the occasional tampering are indeed some of the open secrets of the college football transfer portal process, which does create an uneven market for schools that don't, or won't, play by those rules.

Clemson remains a recruiting power under Swinney, coming in No. 5 nationally in our own early 2025 college football recruiting team rankings, and finished top-15 nationally the previous two cycles.

More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Picks