Clemson football: Dabo Swinney secretly wants to go to transfer portal for a CB

Dabo Swinney secretly wants to go to the NCAA Transfer Portal for the next Clemson football CB

The Clemson football team is down a cornerback for the 2021 season following the dismissal of Derion Kendrick from the program.

With Kendrick gone and LeAnthony Williams already transferred out, Clemson has a total of six cornerbacks on scholarships as we head into the spring. The Tigers have nine scholarship safeties for a total of 15 defensive backs.

While Dabo Swinney is never going to outright say that he is looking at the NCAA Transfer Portal or give away his plans as he continues to build this Clemson football program, anyone who heard him talk at Monday’s press conference could feel a change in the tides when he was asked to address the cornerback position and his potential stance on going after a corner in the transfer portal.

Swinney remained his upbeat self and talked up all six current scholarship guys and there’s a belief that all of those guys- who were at least former 4-stars coming out of high school- can make a major impact. That being said, he was also open and honest when it came to the numbers at the position.

He said that Clemson was short at cornerback (he’d like to have 7-8 cornerbacks on the roster) and that the Tigers were one short in their defensive backfield with their number typically being 16, but now they’re at 15.

Swinney was more candid about the NCAA Transfer Portal than he ever has been and that’s something Clemson football fans should pay attention to

Most who have heard Dabo Swinney talk in the past would’ve expected him to answer the question basically in a way where he said that he was happy with where the Tigers were at and that he was confident in the players he had on the roster getting the job done.

Instead, he spent time talking about numbers and then went on to describe what kind of player the Tigers would be looking for if they did head towards the transfer portal.

"“That is a position you may consider, but we aren’t going to jump in the portal and bring a backup in here,” Swinney said during the press conference. “Would have to be an elite, multi-year starter, all-conference type of guy. If it’s not that guy, we are good where we are.”"

Clemson football shouldn’t just bring in bodies to bring in bodies. That makes no sense.

The whole point of the Tigers being open to the transfer portal- and we can see that here with Swinney’s comments- is that they’re going to be open to bringing in top-tier guys who can help make an impact in the program.

It doesn’t make sense to bring in a third-stringer just so you can feel happy about your numbers,  but it does make sense to look at the talent in the transfer portal following this spring and make evaluations on potential players who could make an impact.

Swinney laid out the characteristics for what they’d be looking for in a cornerback and, perhaps, that’s because he’d secretly like to see a guy like that fall into their lap from the portal.

Who knows? Maybe a cornerback from another program reads his comments and takes them as a subtle hint. Only time will tell.