Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has revealed exactly how he feels about the transfer portal.
Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has been fiercely criticized in the past for refusing to take advantage of the transfer portal.
Between 2022 and 2025, Swinney landed a grand total of five players in the transfer portal, and the effects are starting to become evident.
Clemson just went 7-6 this season, marking its worst finish since going 6-7 during Swinney's second year at the helm in 2010.
The Tigers have fallen far, and Swinney was feeling the heat. So, the two-time national champion finally dug into the portal this winter and has added 10 players — double the amount that he accumulated over the previous four years.
It has been quite the deviation form the norm for Swinney, an old-school coach who has also been lambasted by many for his archaic recruiting methods.
Nevertheless, while Swinney has displayed he is capable of change this offseason, it doesn't necessarily mean he enjoys the process.
While talking to reporters earlier this week, the 56-year-old revealed exactly how he feels about the transfer portal, and let's just say it wasn't positive.
"I feel like the preacher at a Vegas wedding chapel," Swinney said.
Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney. Credit: Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network South Carolina / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.In other words, Swinney feels the experience is rushed and, essentially, cheapened. He's probably not alone in that sentiment, but this is the reality of college sports in the new NIL era.
It even became so frustrating that the legendary Nick Saban stepped down as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide after 2023, largely due to the fact that he and Alabama had lost their competitive advantage.
But if you want to keep up on this modern landscape, you're going to have to adapt, and to Swinney's credit, he has finally done that this offseason.
In fact, On 3 has ranked Clemson a very respectable 25th in its transfer portal rankings, placing the Tigers fifth in the ACC.
You do have to wonder, however, if Clemson has already faded so much that it won't have the ability to compete with the biggest schools for the best talent any longer.
It remains to be seen, but for now, Swinney and the Tigers are just focused on bouncing back in 2026 after a miserable 2025 campaign that ended in a Pinstripe Bowl loss to Penn State.