Dabo Swinney addresses Clemson not utilizing transfer portal

Sep 5, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney questions the side judge after a replay during the first quarter of the Chick-fil-A kickoff game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Dabo Swinney has stood out in the new era of college football for his refusal to utilize the transfer portal.

Swinney believes in home-growing his players rather than paying top dollar for what are effectively free agents. While other schools pluck players out of the transfer portal, Swinney sticks to what he did throughout the 2010s when he built Clemson into a power: recruiting players out of high school.

During an appearance on College Sports Radio on SiriusXM on Thursday, Swinney said that the quality of players in the transfer portal just wasn’t up to snuff for his Tigers.

https://x.com/brett_mcmurphy/status/1791208635952951334

“I mean, it’s really pretty simple,” Swinney said. “Most of the guys in the portal aren’t good enough to play for us. That’s just the reality of it.”

He’s probably correct. However, while most of the players may not be Clemson-quality, there are still some players who could help his team. Swinney just doesn’t believe in building his program by using 1-year rentals.

NIL and the transfer portal drove many great coaches away from college sports, like Coach K, Jay Wright and Nick Saban, to name a few. Swinney isn’t walking away from Clemson, but he’s not exactly embracing the new era of the sport. That may turn out to be to the detriment of his team’s records moving forward.