Dabo Swinney Downplays Clemson Signing 0 Transfers in 2024 Portal, Cites HS Commits

Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney isn’t sweating the fact that his program didn’t land a single player in the transfer portal this offseason.

During an appearance on ACC PM, Swinney explained the lack of transfers, saying: “It wasn’t really necessarily like an intentional thing. There was a couple guys we looked at, but they gotta love you too.”

Swinney then shifted the focus toward Clemson’s incoming recruiting class, saying: “Honestly, every player is technically a transfer. We just signed a whole class of guys transferring from high school.”

The transfer portal has become a major asset for coaches to improve their team, especially since the advent of the current name, image and likeness (NIL) rules, but Clemson has taken a more traditional approach.

In fact, Army, Navy and Air Force are the only other FBS teams that didn’t land a transfer this offseason, meaning Clemson is the only non-service academy school to not partake in the transfer portal.

Swinney further explained Clemson’s lack of transfer activity by noting, “We like our guys, we like our starters.” He also referenced the fact that 125 of the 127 players on Clemson’s spring roster are still with the team.

Additionally, Swinney touted the fact that many of his players stay in school longer than typical Power 5 programs, declaring that Clemson had the highest graduation success rate in college football and the highest of any Power 5 school in the past 20 years.

While Swinney didn’t get into his stance on the transfer portal and NIL during his ACC PM appearance, he has made it clear in the past that he prefers a more old-fashioned approach.

Speaking to ESPN’s Chris Low in 2022, Swinney said using the transfer portal “means we’ve missed on kids and we’re no longer signing the best of the best out there.”

Swinney also blasted the NIL system at the time, calling it “out of control,” “not sustainable” and “an absolute mess and a train wreck,” due to a lack of rigid rules.

Despite that, Clemson secured a strong recruiting class for 2024, ranking 11th in the nation, per 247Sports.

From 2015 to 2020, the Tigers never lost more than two games in a single season, and they lost one or less four times during that stretch.

Clemson also reached the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on four occasions, winning it twice.

While Clemson has remained a strong team since 2020, it has fallen out of national title contention.

The Tigers went 10-3 in 2021 and then won the ACC title in 2022 en route to finishing 11-3. Last season, Clemson dropped to 9-4, marking its first season with fewer than 10 wins since 2010, which was Swinney’s second season as head coach.

Swinney may have to adjust his stance and be more active in the transfer portal to contend, but for now, he is sticking with his philosophy.