Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney defends transfer portal strategy after Duke loss

Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney had a message for anyone pinning Clemson football’s struggles against Duke on a lack of transfer portal additions.

“I don’t have any reaction to that,” Swinney said Wednesday. “I mean, that’s ridiculous. That had nothing to do with us getting beat by Duke on Monday night.”

In the wake of the Tigers’ 28-7 loss to Duke on Labor Day, Swinney’s long-standing preference for recruiting and developing high school recruits instead of utilizing the NCAA transfer portal — which has grown bigger than ever since its 2018 creation — came under scrutiny.

After preseason No. 9 Clemson scored just one offensive touchdown on 13 possessions, national writers from outlets including 247Sports, On3 Sports and The Athletic took to social media to critique Swinney for not utilizing the portal like other top schools, including No. 4 Florida State.

The Seminoles — widely viewed as Clemson’s top challenger in the ACC — routed then No. 14 LSU in prime time Sunday, 45-24, behind contributions from a number of portal players including third-year starting quarterback Jordan Travis (Louisville), wide receiver Keon Coleman (Michigan State) and defensive end Jared Verse (Albany).

A day later, a Clemson team that’s consistently recruited at a top 15 national level but has only taken two scholarship transfer portal players (both of them backup quarterbacks) struggled mightily to execute against the Blue Devils.

A majority of the national criticism centered around Clemson’s receivers, who were credited with three drops according to Pro Football Focus and — despite solid performances by Beaux Collins and Antonio Williams — failed to make a tangible impact on the game.

“It’s not the only reason, but Dabo’s refusal to adapt to the portal era is coaching malpractice,” The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel posted on the platform X, formerly Twitter. “It’s Clemson! They could get Keon Colemans! It’s like Blackberry’s CEO when the iPhone came out. ‘Who would possibly want a phone without a keyboard?’ ”

The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach also wrote a column attributing Clemson’s recent struggles after a six-year College Football Playoff run to Swinney’s “stubborn” portal stance.

“Clemson hasn’t adapted to the times, and that’s why this program is slipping from its perch atop the sport,” Auerbach wrote, later adding: “These are the coaches who see and embrace where college football is in 2023. Swinney does not. He’s learning the hard way that being anti-progress is an organization killer.”

Clemson ‘behind the times,’ writer says

Swinney, whose Tigers are back in action in Saturday’s home opener against Charleston Southern (2:15 p.m., ACC Network), said roster construction had nothing to do with Clemson’s loss to Duke, which marked the Blue Devils’ first win against an AP top-10 team in 34 years.

“What cost us the game the other night was being in first-and-goal at the 1 twice and getting nothing and being down inside the 5 the third time, getting nothing,” Swinney said Wednesday. “That (transfer portal strategy) ain’t got anything to do with that. Whatever narrative they want to create, that’s fine. We’ll keep on keepin’ on.”

The Tigers made six straight CFPs from 2015-20 and appeared in four national championship games, winning two in 2016 and 2018, with homegrown talent across the board.

Players such as Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence, Christian Wilkins and Tee Higgins came to Clemson as highly touted high school recruits and made Clemson a household name.

But despite continuing an impressive 12-year streak of 10-win seasons, winning the 2022 ACC championship and bringing in consensus top-15 recruiting classes, the Tigers have missed consecutive College Football Playoffs. After Monday’s loss to Duke, they fell to No. 25 in the AP Top 25 poll and essentially can’t lose another game if they want to reach the 2023 CFP.

The Tigers are also 21-7 since the start of the 2021 season after going 79-7 from 2015-20 and have lost a game to an unranked opponent while ranked as a AP top 10 three seasons in a row (N.C. State in 2021, Notre Dame in 2022, Duke in 2023).

Auerbach, of The Athletic, said that Clemson’s preference for high school recruits over the portal has made the program “behind the times” compared to other schools such as FSU and Colorado and — to a lesser degree, because they’re also selective — Alabama and Georgia.

Clemson hasn’t been completely dormant in the portal, offering two offensive linemen who ended up committing elsewhere in the 2022 cycle, but under the NCAA’s current rules allowing for immediate eligibility as a one-time transfer the Tigers have only signed two scholarship transfers: Hunter Johnson and Paul Tyson, both veteran backup quarterbacks.

“There were 363 FBS wide receivers who transferred this offseason and 108 who landed with Power 5 programs,” Auerbach wrote. “Even adding one might have made a big difference for Clemson on Monday night.”