“I think any time you bring new people in, good players — whether it’s a transfer or it’s a really talented freshman — you better be ready to compete,” Swinney said. “We’ve had a lot of freshmen start here.”
“But those guys,” he said of the transfers, “have been exactly what we needed.”
Swinney admitted the Tigers needed more speed and experience in the secondary, more physicality and competition on the D-Line.
His belief Clemson’s in-house talent, however, doesn’t appear fundamentally shaken.
For instance, Clemson wanted to add a senior offensive lineman as a bridge to the talent in Luke’s last two recruiting classes. But Swinney isn’t regretting a portal miss there.
“We’ve answered that question mark already after five practices,” Swinney said, indicating redshirt freshman Easton Ware has been tentatively “hired” at one tackle spot after sitting out last season with a shoulder injury.
One transfer signee, Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli, skipped off to Ole Miss in a tampering controversy and torpedoed Clemson’s plan there.
But a few practices in, Allen is less uneasy about Kobe McCloud, Jeremiah Alexander, or another darkhorse emerging alongside Sammy Brown.
“I feel way better,” Allen said, “just because I feel like there’s a bunch of hungry guys in there that have something to prove.”
Everyone does, to some degree, after such a disappointing fall.
But some challenges have been levied more directly than others.
Swinney was asked specifically about rising redshirt junior D-tackle Vic Burley, a former top-100 recruit who became a steady contributor in 2025 but not quite a star.