Dabo Swinney's Latest Transfer Portal Comments Will Infuriate Clemson Fans

The Clemson Tigers surprisingly acquired 11 players via the transfer portal last winter, a jarring change for a head coach in Dabo Swinney who has never liked the feature.

But don't expect Swinney to suddenly become a portal wiz.

While speaking about the transfer portal heading into Clemson's Week 8 matchup with Virginia Tech, Swinney made it clear that he will only utilize the portal to fill needs due to injuries or departures.

“If we get a decommitment, we’re going to use the portal. If we get somebody that transfers, we’re going to use the portal. If we have somebody that’s hurt … we’ve got to use the portal. That’s what it’s for, and that’s how we used it," Swinney said.

Swinney added that Clemson will "always be a developmental team."

In other words, the Tigers will never actually look to upgrade any position via the portal; they will only aim to fill gaping holes that have been created.

Those comments will surely have Clemson fans rolling their eyes.

Swinney's stance is understandable from an old-school perspective. The 56-year-old made it to four National Championship Games and won a couple of titles between 2015 and 2019 employing his developmental philosophy.

But the game has changed significantly since then.

You have to strongly utilize the transfer portal in order to keep up, and based on how Clemson looked against the only two ranked teams it has played this season (both of whom, by the way, had transfer quarterbacks), it's clear the program has fallen behind the 8-ball due to Swinney's strategy.

I actually admire Swinney for sticking to his guns. He doesn't want to turn Clemson into a Wild West school like LSU, and that's cool.

But from a broader perspective, it also means that the Tigers will never be able to recapture their glory days.

Take Clemson's quarterback situation, for example. Tait Reynolds has struggled during his freshman campaign, and it's becoming abundantly clear that the Tigers should at least weigh the idea of bringing in some competition via the portal.

Reynolds should by no means be guaranteed to keep his job. Not with just one passing touchdown and three interceptions on the season.

But obviously, Swinney has no intention of going out and bagging another signal-caller to compete with Reynolds. Swinney is going to stay with the former three-star recruit.

That's where Clemson needs to make some changes, but so long as Swinney is at the helm, it doesn't appear that will be happening.

At some point, the school is going to decide that enough is enough and attempt to bring in another coach who will modernize the program. And I would hate to see that for Dabo.