The Clemson Tigers are losing one of their best defenders to the transfer portal.
The Clemson Tigers have lost starting safety Ricardo Jones to the transfer portal. Jones was one of the few bright spots for Clemson in what was an underwhelming 2025 season.
Jones had 39 total tackles, three pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and six interceptions, which led the ACC. He earned All-ACC honors, and losing him to the transfer portal is a major blow to the Tigers' defense.
Jones has two years of eligibility remaining and instantly becomes one of the top safeties in the transfer portal.
Clemson went 7-6 in the 2025 season, losing in the Pinstripe Bowl to Penn State to conclude the disappointing year.
Heading into the season, the Tigers were expected to make it to the College Football Playoff and be in the mix to win the National Championship. Swinney and the Tigers were nowhere close to accomplishing this goal.
In the 2024 season, Swinney led Clemson to the College Football Playoff, but they fell to Texas in the first round.
The Tigers are now losing key players like Jones through the transfer portal, which will make it more challenging to have a bounce-back season in 2026.
To improve the roster, Swinney will need to be more aggressive in using the transfer portal to add players. He hasn't been hesitant to do so in the past, but it's time for Clemson to get desperate.
Swinney already made an aggressive move by bringing back Chad Morris as their offensive coordinator. Morris was the team's offensive coordinator from 2011 to 2014 and will look to turn the Tigers' offense around after they fired Garrett Riley.
Swinney established Clemson as one of the best programs in college football over the past decade. They made it to the National Championship Game four times from 2015 to 2019, winning two of them.
However, the Tigers haven't been back since and are now coming off their worst season since 2010, when they went 6-7.
Jones will be a significant loss for Clemson and will add to the growing problems Swinney will have to address to get the Tigers back on track for 2026.