{"id":49318,"date":"2025-05-14T12:01:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T12:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/49318\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T12:01:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T12:01:12","slug":"clemsons-dabo-swinney-no-longer-avoiding-college-football-transfer-portal-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/49318\/","title":{"rendered":"Clemson’s Dabo Swinney no longer avoiding college football transfer portal chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

AMELIA ISLAND, FL \u2012 We begin with the obvious oddity: in five years of the transfer portal, Clemson<\/a> has signed five players.<\/p>\n

Lane Kiffin signs five<\/a> in one afternoon.<\/p>\n

So it should come as no surprise that when asked about his recent wave of portal signings<\/a> \u2013 three in one offseason! \u2013 Clemson<\/a> coach Dabo Swinney stayed true to a process that has delivered seven College Football Playoff appearances in the last 10 seasons.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is how we go about our business,\u201d Swinney said, while attending the ACC spring meetings. \u201cWe\u2019re just being who we are, and not apologizing for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

But make no mistake, Clemson finally jumped into the transfer portal this offseason. Even if it was in the shallows.<\/p>\n

\"Clemson<\/p>\n

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney reacts after a call by an official during his team’s game against Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.<\/p>\n

When you go from signing two backup quarterbacks (neither was expected to play) early in the evolution of the portal, to declaring your locker room is your transfer portal, to signing three players this offseason after a first-round loss in the College Football Playoff, that\u2019s no coincidence.<\/p>\n

Or maybe it\u2019s just Clemson adjusting in a changing world it has no control over.<\/p>\n

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Blue chip defensive end recruit Bryce Davis flipped his commitment to Duke last August, and backup defensive lineman A.J. Hoffler left for ACC rival Georgia Tech<\/a> after the season. Then there\u2019s wideout Noble Johnson, who left for Arizona State<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BEST OF BEST:\u00a0Our ranking of college football’s top 25 coaches<\/a><\/p>\n

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All three were expected to contribute this season, and all three left significant questions. So Swinney signed his first non-quarterback (edge Will Heldt of Purdue), and the best Championship Subdivision wide receiver in the portal (Southeast Missouri State\u2019s Tristan Smith).<\/p>\n

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He also added Alabama<\/a> linebacker Jeremiah Alexander, who Clemson recruited hard in 2022, as a top backup.<\/p>\n

So just to recap (and before everyone gets sideways about Clemson\u2019s new change in philosophy): Swinney signed a backup linebacker, a No.3 or 4 receiver, and a starter on the edge in Heldt, who was one of the best defensive players in the Big Ten by the end of 2024.<\/p>\n

That, everyone, was Clemson\u2019s big splash in the portal. Its change of philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t changed anything,\u201d Swinney said. \u201cWe\u2019re still doing the same thing we\u2019ve always done. Just following our purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what\u2019s so unique about the portal moves that really weren\u2019t. They were tactical, and they were purposeful.<\/p>\n

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They were fits.<\/p>\n

The danger in the portal era is in one-year mercenary signings, players who have a year of eligibility remaining or who know they\u2019re leaving for the NFL after the transfer year, and aren\u2019t invested in the team\u2019s philosophy or chemistry. They\u2019re interested in money, and moving on.<\/p>\n

The fallout, if you\u2019re not careful, erodes what coaches and players take years to build. There\u2019s a locker room dynamic that already is tenuous, with most players essentially on one-year deals.<\/p>\n

When mercenary signings arrive with big paydays, bad individual fits can soil a team-first locker room and generate a potentially combustible situation \u2014 and season. An ecosystem of young egos that already is fragile in the era of transfer portal and free player movement can flip with one player.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey are really committed guys,\u201d Swinney said of the three transfers. \u201cThey love Clemson, love their teammates and are easy to coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

UP AND DOWN: UCLA, Penn State among transfer portal winners and losers<\/a><\/p>\n

TROJAN HORSE: USC, Lincoln Riley crushing recruiting in bid for resurgence<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t tell Swinney he has changed his ways, don\u2019t tell him he has finally submitted to chaotic roster and team building in the portal era. That he has embraced the portal and all its flaws because there\u2019s no alternative.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still the same driven and foundational secure wall he was as a walk-on wide receiver at Alabama in the early 1990s. Doesn\u2019t mean he can\u2019t or won\u2019t change, it just means he believes in a philosophy that has led to double-digit win seasons in 14 of the last 15 years \u2014 the only outlier a nine-win season in 2023.<\/p>\n

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So yeah, he knows what he\u2019s doing, thank you.<\/p>\n

Like he knew he had to fire defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin, who coached with Swinney in some capacity over the last 13 years and most recently running the defense for the last three seasons.<\/p>\n

But when the defense couldn\u2019t get off the field, and left the Clemson offense with little wiggle room in big games, change had to happen. So Swinney hired Tom Allen away from Penn State to run his defense.<\/p>\n

Allen, of course, fits. He not only is one of the most respected teachers in the game, his unique family-driven personality was the nucleus of his LEO (Love Each Other) mantra at Indiana the foundation of one of the best Hoosiers teams in decades in 2020.<\/p>\n

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He fits Clemson because Swinney isn’t bringing someone into his world that doesn’t, or may not. Just like the three players he signed from the transfer portal.<\/p>\n

They fit with a team that returns 16 starters, and a hot quarterback (Cade Klubnik), and a roster that felt what it was like to play in the CFP for the first time since 2020. Swinney says he isn\u2019t changing, but he sure isn\u2019t going to roll into a season with roster deficits from a process he can\u2019t control.<\/p>\n

Especially with a team with so much potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re lifelong learners,\u201d Swinney said. \u201cIf you show me somebody who\u2019s great at anything, I\u2019ll show you a lifelong learner.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Why would anyone apologize for that?<\/p>\n

Matt Hayes<\/a> is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clemson’s Dabo Swinney embraces college football transfer portal<\/a><\/p>\n