Dabo Swinney has been the Head Coach at the University of Clemson since taking over mid-way through the
2008 season for Tommy Bowden. Since then, Swinney has compiled a 170-44 record while leading the program to two national championships while appearing in four championship games. The Tigers have finished in the top 25 in all but two seasons under Swinney, going 12-8 in bowl games and 6-4 in the previous rendition of the College Football Playoff. There is no question that Dabo Swinney has turned Clemson into a perennial powerhouse during his tenure but since the days of Trevor Lawrence and Deshawn Watson, Swinney's ways of constructing a roster are starting to be questioned.
Dabo Swinney has been a topic of discussion this off-season as the coach has been heavily criticized for his lack of use of the transfer portal. The Tigers were one of four teams who didn’t add a single player from the transfer portal, the other three schools being service academies, a move that many called out Swinney for. Swinney was vocal about his lack of use of the portal, saying there weren’t any players good enough for Clemson.
“I mean, it’s pretty simple. Most of the guys in the portal aren’t good enough to play for us. That’s just the reality of it. I mean, we have guys that are backups at Clemson that go in the portal because they just want to have an opportunity,” said Swinney.
Now fast forward to Saturday’s 34-3 blowout loss to the number one team in the nation and rival the Georgia Bulldogs, Swinney still doubled down on his comments and his usage of the portal.
“People are gonna say whatever they want to say,” Swinney said. “We do what’s best for Clemson year in and year out and when you lose like this — they have any right to say whatever they want.”
The landscape of college football has changed completely since the peak of Swinney’s time at Clemson. Ever since NIL came into play and with athletes no longer required to sit a year when transferring to a new school, more top athletes are now using the portal to make their way to bigger programs. Swinney’s approach caused Clemson to miss out on players like Caleb Downs, Dillon Gabrial, and Quinshon Judkins all of whom entered the transfer portal this past off-season. While contenders like Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, and Oregon, continue to use the portal year after year, Swinney's approach could cost the Tigers in the long run.
Although Swinney believes in his approach, Clemson has not appeared in the playoffs since Trevor Lawrence was under center. The program during this time has gone 30-11, having lost more games than the program had lost in the previous six seasons. A big reason for this is Swinney’s inability to stable quarterback play similarly to both Lawrence and Watson. Quarterbacks like Quinn Ewers, Bo Nix, and Dillion Gabrial have all entered the portal in recent years, had Swinney gone after one of these players, Clemson could be in a way better position now.
Swinney’s post-game comments showed us that the coach still believes in his way of constructing a roster but with the program starting off this year with another loss to Georgia whose leading receiver was a former Vanderbilt transfer, you can’t help but ask what it would take for the coach to finally change his approach.
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