Clemson did not add a single player through the transfer portal during the offseason so Dabo Swinney looks ridiculous after getting blown out by Georgia. His reason for the questionable roster management was completely exposed as ludicrous on Saturday.
The Tigers were completely out-matched by a more talented roster.
On one side of the top-15 matchup, the Bulldogs added nine scholarship players through the portal. Wide receivers London Humphreys and Colbie Young landed in Athens after stops at Vanderbilt and Miami, respectively. They both caught touchdowns from Carson Beck in the 34-3 victory.
On the other side of the ACC-SEC matchup, Swinney and his staff completely neglected the portal. They whiffed on every single player they offered a scholarship, which was only two anyway.
Dabo Swinney is stuck in 2017.
Clemson was the only only program in the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big-12 and defunct Pac-12 that did not take a single transfer in 2024. It has not had a single transfer player in the starting lineup— ever.
Swinney recently explained that his reason for the limited usage of transfer portal is simply based on talent already in the building.
We make our decisions year in and year out on what’s best for Clemson or what’s best for that roster.
— Dabo Swinney, via ESPN
He has decided year after year that his roster is actually better off without adding a lot of transfers. The 54-year-old head coach would rather take the field only with players he recruited out of high school instead of a proven starter looking for a new opportunity or a disgruntled superstar seeking a fresh start.
The first thing you do is ask ‘who’s back?’ And then you go around the room, ‘do we like who our starters are?’ ‘Do we like the guys that are developing that are ready to go, like a Wade Woodaz?’ Or ‘do we need to go get a guy?’ And so, you know, this is a collaborative process, and every year we do what we think is best for our team, for the players on this team, and for Clemson.
— Dabo Swinney
Swinney’s approach to the portal would make a lot of sense if it worked. However, the Tigers lost four games last season and got manhandled by the Bulldogs in their season-opener.
Georgia is the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. It is like running into a buzzsaw.
Part of the reason Kirby Smart’s team is so good is because of how he uses the transfer portal to add talented players at positions of need. Dabo Swinney can’t relate. His approach is the exact opposite.