Dabo Swinney on his philosophy with the transfer portal |
The transfer portal has opened up an interesting pandora's box in college football.
If you don't like your standing with a team, it is becoming easier and more effortless to transfer to another school that better fits your needs or promises you a chance to start. ESPN reporter David Hale asked Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney on Wednesday about his philosophy regarding the transfer portal and how he is going to manage it in the coming years. "The landscape is different, and I want to have an infrastructure in place that will help us compete to be the best," Swinney said. "Our philosophy has always been to recruit high school kids. We've signed two transfers since I've been here. I've not gone to the portal to address needs ever. We've just always taken a lot of pride in our evaluation and development of high school kids, and that's never going to change." Swinney understands that you have to adapt and change with the times if you want to stay on top. "But the rules have changed," he said. "We haven't changed, but the rules have. So we just have to make sure we're prepared if we have gaps in our roster. I think we'll be one of the least impacted. I really believe that. But we will be impacted just like everybody else. But if some guys decide to leave in May, well, you can't recruit high school kids in May, so you better have a plan in place. If we have to go that route at some point, we'll get the best. But our criteria and process will be the exact same as it is for high school kids."
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