Swinney may have to resort to desperate measures to get to 85 scholarships

Clemson is in a different situation with scholarship numbers in 2023.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Feb 02 16:34:00 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – Teams have to be at the 85 scholarship limit when the entire team assembles this summer, and Dabo Swinney’s Tigers are currently over that number.

NCAA rules state that Division 1-A (FBS) football programs are capped at 85 scholarships. Thanks to the COVID year – the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all players who were on a roster during the 2020 COVID season – many players are returning for a fifth, a sixth, and sometimes a seventh season.

That COVID season (and the transfer portal) is playing havoc with roster management for college coaches. At Clemson, there were several players that were expected to leave but decided to return to live the life of a college player for another year.

That number includes Xavier Thomas, who will begin his sixth season in Clemson in 2023. Thomas was in the same signing class as quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who will begin his third season as a starter for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL next season.

As of this, the Tigers are over that limit of 85.

“Oh, we're at 88 (scholarships). It's one of my favorite numbers (the number he wore at Alabama), but, that's a problem,” Swinney said Wednesday. “Roster management is hard. We’ve got a couple more years of Covid, I guess, and I'm thankful for that because we have some great players that are coming back.”

Thomas, defensive end Justin Mascoll, defensive tackles Ruke Orhorhoro and Tyler Davis, safety Jalyn Phillips and cornerback Sheridan Jones all announced that they were returning for another year.

“I thought all these guys were gone,” Swinney said. “If you'd have told me back in the summer that Xavier Thomas and Mascoll and Ruke and Tyler Davis and JP, that those guys were all back here, I'd have asked what planet are you living on?”

Players who are interested in entering the transfer portal have another window to do so starting May 1st, with the window closing May 15th. However, the Tigers didn’t have any players enter the portal after spring practice last year, and if the Tigers are still three over the limit he said he would have to take scholarships away from three former walk-ons. Junior running back Domonique Thomas, junior quarterback Hunter Helms and sophomore long-snapper Holden Caspersen were given scholarships last season, but those are awarded on a year-by-year basis.

“We’ve got three walk-ons on scholarship that we could take back if we had to. They came here as walk-ons. We certainly wouldn’t want to do that. … Those guys have earned it and they deserve it. But they did come here as a walk on. I may be at 65 scholarships. They may hate Garrett (Riley)," Swinney said jokingly. "I don't know. They may say, heck with me (Dabo), I'm outta here. I'm gonna go run the Wing T somewhere. I don't know. That's where we are today. It doesn't take much to really put the math together. We will be at 85 by August. We didn't lose anybody after spring ball last year, and hopefully we don't lose anybody this year.”