Clemson coach Dabo Swinney acted quickly in restructuring his staff immediately after the Penn State Nittany Lions beat the Tigers in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27. The loss completed a 7-6 record for Swinney’s Tigers, who were ranked in the top-10 of the AP Top 25 preseason poll after a trip to the College Football Playoff the previous season.
After a disappointing season during which he was on the hot seat for long stretches, the notoriously transfer portal-shy Swinney has dipped into the market vigorously to refresh his roster ahead of next season.
Dabo Swinney Addresses Transfer Portal Activity
On Tuesday, On3 reporter Andy Staples revealed on X about Swinney’s unique comparison about courting and signing several players from the transfer portal for the first time in his tenure.
“I feel like the preacher at a Vegas wedding chapel,” Swinney said.
Last season, Clemson signed only three players via the transfer portal, and so far, Swinney has increased those numbers, receiving commitments from 10 players from the portal.
Nine of the 10 players signed are defensive players after Clemson earned a lowly B- score on PFSN’s College Defense Impact metric, ranking 33rd.
The players include London Merritt (DL), Markus Strong (DL), CJ Wesley (DL), Kourtney Kelly (DL), Luke Ferrelli (LB), Donovan Starr (DB), Corey Myrick (DB), Jerome Carter (DB), and Elliot Washington (DB). The sole offensive player signed by the Tigers is former SMU Mustangs running back Chris Johnson.
Swinney Praised for Transfer Portal Business
On Saturday, ESPN reporter Max Olson placed the Tigers on the top-10 list of hottest transfer portal teams so far, alongside teams like the Texas A&M Aggies and the Indiana Hoosiers.
“Credit where credit is due. Dabo Swinney took a lot of grief over the years for his resistance to portal recruiting. The trio of transfers he brought in a year ago, Will Heldt, Tristan Smith and Jeremiah Alexander, all paid off and started games this season, with Heldt emerging as an All-ACC performer,” Olson wrote.
“The Tigers are fully going for it, signing a strong group of defensive contributors to help get things fixed. Ferrelli was the ACC’s Defensive Rookie of the Year at Cal as a redshirt freshman. Carter and Myrick were two of the top safeties in the Sun Belt and Merritt and Starr are two promising freshmen who were ESPN 300 recruits a year ago.”
Next season has been tabbed as a make-or-break year for Swinney’s tenure at Clemson, following a decline in the program’s standing among the country’s elite due to his reluctance to utilize the transfer portal, a trend that has become increasingly common in college football.
