Dabo Swinney Says 'Most' CFB Transfer Portal Players 'Aren't Good Enough' for Clemson

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney continued to defend the program's lack of investment in the transfer portal, arguing there's a clear talent gap.

Swinney said Thursday on SiriusXM ACC Radio that "most of the guys in the portal aren't good enough to play for us."

The comment is one of those things that's factually true but obfuscates the issue.

If you were to stack up every single college football player who enters the portal in a given offseason, the majority of them probably aren't good enough to play a meaningful role for Clemson. But recent history has shown that teams with championship aspirations can make immediate improvements with veteran transfers.

LaDarius Henderson and Drake Nugent were both first-team All-Big Ten offensive linemen in 2023, and they joined Michigan out of the portal. Keon Coleman, a Michigan State transfer, was the leading receiver on a Florida State team that went unbeaten in the regular season. Washington doesn't make the College Football Playoff without quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who joined the Huskies after spending four years at Indiana.

The transfer portal isn't a complete substitute for the traditional ways of building a roster. You still need to recruit well at the high school level, and the portal era has placed an even higher value on experience and continuity within the same squad.

In addition, there might be years in which a program looking to make the playoff doesn't need to make any marquee transfers because the talent is already there.

But Swinney's comments reflect a wider philosophy. No school at Clemson's level has been slower to embrace the transfer portal or what NIL can mean for player recruitment and retention.

The impact of Swinney's approach is self-evident by how the Tigers have finished of late. They last qualified for the playoff in 2020, and their 9-4 record last year was their worst since 2010.

To some degree, Clemson fans have been spoiled by the success Swinney has helped to deliver. Remember when "Clemsoning" was shorthand for when a highly regarded team unexpectedly unraveled in the course of a game or season?

However, the fanbase has a reason to be frustrated when Swinney possesses such a straightforward way to land some necessary reinforcements and seemingly refuses on principle.