Dabo Swinney doesn't need transfer portal: "I just have to go to the locker room"

Swinney says his replacements are already on campus because his program develops players.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Feb 08 08:01:03 GMT-04:00 2021

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has a plan in place if he ever needs the transfer portal, but for now, he thinks he can find all the replacements he needs in his own locker room.

The NCAA transfer portal is a website that acts as a centralized database for players who are interested in transferring. The website is not public; coaches and administrators for NCAA schools have access. Once a player enters his name into the portal it becomes viewable by coaches from every other school.

For coaches nationwide, the portal has become a one-stop destination to search for available players; for the players, the portal is a convenient way to solicit recruiting inquiries and generally explore their options.

If a player wants to explore a transfer, he will provide written notification to his university’s designated administrator. That administrator will then gather the player’s pertinent information (email address, phone number, etc.) and enter it into the portal website.

Most college football programs take advantage of the portal – South Carolina is a great example of a team that has seen a bevy of players transfer out and new head coach Shane Beamer used the portal to transfer players in so he will have a usable roster next season.

Swinney said he doesn’t have to worry about that. Not right now. If he needs another starter, all he has to do is look in own locker room.

“I think there are over 1600 kids in the transfer portal. It's a crazy world,” Swinney said last week. “You have some teams out there that have 20-plus guys in the transfer portal. I can't imagine that. I hope I don't ever have to deal with that. It is something that I think everybody has to adjust to and you have to have a plan for. We're fortunate -- it's not like we have a bunch of starters packing up and leaving. For me, right now structurally, we are set up to deal with that if we need to but I don't have to go to the portal right now, I just have to go to the locker room. That is where our replacements are.”

Swinney said his program is about development but understands the current climate of college football.

“We have always been a developmental program and we always will be. That isn't going to change,” Swinney said. “But, because of the way the rules have changed, if all of a sudden you have a group of guys leave or you have starters leaving, you can have some gaps in your roster that you might have to address. And that process would still be the same in how we recruit and fit the core values. All of those things would be the same. But to this point we haven't had to do that.”

For those who think Swinney should use the portal, he has some news for you.

“Right now, we have one scholarship open and it's not a scholarship that we need to go to the portal for,” Swinney said. “Now, post-spring, with the rules you will have guys leaving in May and December of every year. And so it's not like you can go recruit high school kids in May so you better have a plan. We have a plan, and if we have to reach into the portal and we see that is a need, I think we will get the best of the best. But we haven't gotten to that point and hopefully we don't have to. But we will be prepared if it becomes a necessity for us.”