Can’t blame Clemson Football for not taking transfers this year

Clemson Football has been facing criticism for its transfer policy from near and far. Nationally there have been several people who believed Clemson was falling behind the rest of college football, and many Tiger fans have voiced that sentiment as well.

Clemson’s transfer policy has been simple: they don’t take transfers. That policy has been relaxed over the past two seasons. The Tigers have taken a veteran quarterback transfer both last offseason (Hunter Johnson) and this offseason (Paul Tyson). Insiders have told us that Clemson has spoken to transfer candidates and offered a few.

Nonetheless, Clemson has not taken an impact player from the transfer portal since its inception in 2018. Considering the number of players that could have left the program following the 2022 season and the perception that certain position groups needed an influx of talent, many thought this was the offseason that the Tigers would finally dip into the portal.

As we approach mid-January, it appears that Clemson’s 2023 transfer class will begin and end with Tyson. The reason is simple: there are no scholarships available to give.

We can see clearly from Morgan Thomas’s roster chart that Clemson is currently at 87 scholarship players, which is two over the limit.

Clemson needs to be at 85 or fewer scholarships by the start of the season. There will likely be more attrition after spring practices, so there isn’t any reason to panic about getting under the limit. At the same time, it wouldn’t be wise to add more transfers while you are technically over the scholarship limit.

I had hoped we would see at least a few transfer additions this offseason beyond veteran quarterbacks who will likely be third-string mentors to the younger players. Under the circumstances, I understand why that won’t happen this year.

The reason is simple: several players who could have left the program have decided to stay. All of these players could have realistically left after 2022.

• DE Xavier Thomas
• DE Justin Mascoll
• DT Tyler Davis
• DT Ruke Orhorhoro
• CB Sheridan Jones
• S Jalyn Phillips

This doesn’t bother me one bit. Could Clemson have found players at end, tackle, corner, and safety that could start immediately for them in 2023 from the portal? It’s possible, but the reality is that if any of these players were in the portal they would be exactly the kind of guys fans would hope Clemson could land.

With more players returning than expect, Clemson Football has no room for transfers

The one argument that I can’t disagree with is that it would have been nice if the Tigers could have added a wide receiver. That group is going to be rather green in 2023, and an experienced receiver could have made a positive impact.

Then again, to get a receiver or any player at this point, Clemson would have needed three of those returning players to opt to leave the program before the staff would know for certain that there would be an available scholarship.

Do I think letting go of any combination of three of those six players would be worth losing just to get a receiver? No, I don’t.

I can’t blame Clemson for not taking more transfers this off-season. Maybe next year.