Swinney says Tigers will have to use transfer portal: "You don't have a choice"

Swinney says the Tigers will have to use the transfer portal.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Nov 16 14:27:28 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney admitted Tuesday that, yes, the Tigers will have to use the transfer portal, and it may be as early as this offseason.

The transfer portal is a hot topic around college football and the Tigers have yet to accept a transfer from the portal. Swinney has said in the past that while he’s not averse to using the portal, his scholarship numbers have been in line with where he wants them and he’s been able to address roster attrition through recruiting.

That is all changing, and he said that no coaches have even figured out what their recruiting number should be for 2023 due to COVID years.

"No. No one has figured out that. There isn't a coach on the planet who has figured that out,” Swinney said. “No one has figured out 2023 recruiting. We feel like we are in a good place roster-wise. Our numbers ... we're going to be right there. Our number on the offensive line is 15. Right now, we'll probably sign two guys and be right at our number. Something could change next week. Something could change tonight. It's just so fluid. You don't know how your current roster will shape out. You have COVID all the way through 2024-2025. Everybody has to account for that. Next year if someone comes back for a COVID year, they have to be in your 85 count.

"It's a crazy world. I never thought I'd experience anything like this when I got into coaching. You have the transfer portal, so a lot of high school kids are going to get pushed to the side. A lot of high school kids are trying to be midyear guys to get a spot. They're trying to compete with the portal. We'll have 12-to-14 midyears who will show up in January. Most of our signees are midyears now. So nobody has figured it out. It is a daily, fluid situation."

Swinney then said that the Tigers will also have to use the portal.

“There isn't a school in the country who won't recruit the portal. Everybody in D-1 football will have to deal with the portal in some form because you're going to have gaps in your roster somewhere,” he said. “They have until May 1 to say, 'I'm out.' That is the world we have created. I don't like it but that's the world we are in now. The next thing you know we're going to have midyears leave because they're third-team or because someone yelled at them in mat drills. There are no barriers anymore in college football. It's just ready, shoot, aim. You don't have a choice.

"We'll deal with it but we won't be as affected as many programs. We won't just do it to do it. It has to be strategic and the right fit. Kids who are in the portal want to be starters. No one wants to come to Clemson to be the fourth-team running back. Most kids in the portal, there's nowhere for them to go. If y'all find one, y'all let me know. But yes, when it happens, it'll be one of the greatest days in the history in Clemson. We'll have someone in the portal and y'all can write about it. And he better be a great player.”

Swinney then said that he’s never ruled out using the portal, there hasn’t been a need for it. Yet.

"Someone is going in the portal everyday, so eventually people will quit commenting on it. It's an unintended consequence, but that's what we're dealing with,” Swinney said. "I've never ruled it out. I've just said we haven't had to use it. We have been at our number. It's not been a need for us. We've known guys who were leaving and we addressed it on the front end in recruiting. We knew. I knew last year that Nyles (Pinckney) and Jordan Williams were leaving. You know some of these things and you address it. This is the first full cycle where there is nowhere to address it.

"I signed a quarterback from Stanford (David Olson). I told him up front that he'd be my scout team quarterback. He wanted to get back to South Carolina. There was no portal, but he was a grad transfer. He wasn't looking to come in here and be the starter. He wanted to be a part of our culture and get into coaching. We've had guys walk on throughout the years, guys who played at other places. But yes, again, everyone will have to use the portal at some point."