Media outlets, and even some Clemson fans, hold a similar narrative: a once-great coach is falling behind because of his refusal to adapt to the changing game.
In the new era of NIL and the transfer portal, Dabo Swinney faces constant backlash for his minimalist use of the transfer portal. While many coaches look to reload with well-seasoned talent in the portal, Swinney opts to develop the talent of younger players into eventual starters for his squad, only using the portal to fill a needed hole in the roster.
Despite the backlash, Clemson’s 2025 squad proves that Swinney’s strategy emerges superior to the dump-and-reload tactic held by other top schools.
Swinney has made his stance clear: his priority lies in high school recruiting. The 2025 season will include six new faces added from the portal. On the contrary, Clemson’s week one opponent, LSU, added 18 transfers.
Swinney’s players exhibit an unmatched level of loyalty to their school compared to other top teams in the nation. In the 2025 cycle, the Tigers did not lose a single starter to the transfer portal, which is a difficult feat in today’s day and age.
Players like Cade Klubnik and Peter Woods, who otherwise may have gone to the NFL draft or transferred to a school that offered them a larger sum of money, chose to stay at the school they had been recruited to. This helps create a culture built for longevity.
On the other side of the aisle, ACC rival Florida State crumbled last season after a season of glory. The team lost 26 players to the transfer portal and 10 others to the NFL draft after an undefeated regular season in 2023.
In an effort to recover, they filled the gaps with transfers, headlined by former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei in what proved to be a disastrous 2024 campaign. The Seminoles now enter the 2025 season unranked.
In some aspects, a collapse similar to Florida State’s is inevitable in the college football equivalent of laissez-faire capitalism, which builds a team through a checkbook instead of fostering relationships.
However, Swinney hopes to prove that you can’t build a college football team with money alone. Instead, he fills his roster with people who want to play for Clemson and not merely get paid by Clemson.
Clemson enters the 2025 season with high expectations and a ranking of No. 4 in the nation by the AP Poll, with many analysts believing the Tigers have the talent to make a deep playoff run.
With a successful 2025 campaign, Swinney and the Tigers have the chance to redefine the construction of a football team in this new and ever-changing era of college athletics.
