Clemson football: Tigers would love TE Arik Gilbert as a transfer

Clemson football would love to get this tight end out of the transfer portal

Would Clemson football consider an exception to its transfer rule if the right prospect came available in the NCAA Transfer Portal?

Currently, Dabo Swinney has a steadfast policy in place that he doesn’t recruit out of the transfer portal and, instead, works to build relationships with families that go beyond just football.

That being said, there have been talks over the past couple of months that the Clemson football program may have to adjust its rules to evolve with the everchanging landscape of College Football and rumor has it that the head coach hasn’t completely turned the idea down moving forward in the future.

"“If things change and you have guys that, and I don’t see it as an issue right now, but you know all of a sudden you have guys that pack up and leave,” Swinney said via ClemsonSI. “Whether it be after the season or after spring practice or whatever, and maybe you didn’t anticipate that. Maybe you have some glaring needs, then you may have to consider it, but I hope not.”"

It’s obvious that Swinney doesn’t like the way that College Football is progressing and isn’t in favoring of the ‘free-agency’ style that is almost inevitably coming, but indications are that he isn’t completely cemented down in never changing if the situation was right, and the Tigers did show interest in Gilbert when he entered the portal.

That being said, there’s nothing to indicate that Gilbert is heavily considering Clemson football

Clemson fans would obviously love to add a monster tight end to the mix, but everything indicates right now that he is leaning towards Georgia.

That is subject to change and absolutely could over the next few weeks, but the fact of the matter is that Gilbert said he was transferring because he felt home sick and Athens is just a short drive down the road from his hometown of Marietta, GA.

Perhaps the most intriguing portion of this, though, is that Swinney is beginning to sprinkle seeds of change.

He’s not going to go ‘All-In’ on the transfer portal- probably ever- but he has at least expressed a willingness to change if times call for it.

"“I hope we can continue to stay the course on how we’ve done things,” Swinney said. “But if we have to adjust, you just have to make the adjustments. But even if we did that our process wouldn’t change, our criteria wouldn’t change. We’d still be looking for the same things that we look for now.”"

It may not be an ’embrace,’ but it is a willingness depending on the situation and circumstances.

Gilbert isn’t likely to be the first transfer, but we do believe that Clemson football will welcome in a transfer at some point in the near future, though that point still might be a couple of years out.