Dabo Swinney may be turning a new leaf. After years of being reluctant of dipping into the transfer portal, he is seeing firsthand how positively impactful it can be for his team. The additions of Jerome Carter III, Corey Myrick, and Elliot Washington II have revamped Clemson's weak secondary on the fly. Their early successes have Swinney "absolutely" feeling more confident about using the portal more.
Carter, Myrick, and Washington came to Clemson this offseason from Old Dominion, Southern Miss, and Penn State, respectively. Only a year ago, Clemson had arguably its worst defensive backfield to date under Swinney. That unit included quality players such as Avieon Terrell, Khalil Barnes, and a less polished version of Ashton Hampton. The portal trio has allowed Hampton to play with more swagger.
While Clemson's defense is still rounding into form under Tom Allen, it has become apparent that he can lean on his defensive backfield more so than he could a year ago. It takes pressure off Swinney so he can put more focus into the quarterbacks, defensive line, and unfortunately, the offensive line. Right now, Swinney has finally realized that the transfer portal can be his friend, and not his enemy.
DBs Corey Myrick (Southern Miss), Jerome Carter III (ODU) and Elliot Washington II (Penn State) are all starting for Clemson in the secondary, and Dabo lists other defensive transfers who've flashed. Says their transfer DBs especially have been impressive https://t.co/TJCyjpikne
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) September 15, 2026
Dabo Swinney is embracing the transfer portal to extend his shelf life
With Carter and Myrick at both safety spots and Washington starting opposite of Hampton at cornerback, Clemson has the right foundation in the back end of its defense to slow down ACC passing attacks. Add Corian Gipson to the mix as the nickelback, and Clemson has an unexpected strength to its defense. The front seven is improving as well, but not to the degree of the secondary.
As the season progresses, we should expect for Hampton and Myrick's leadership to shine through this unit across the entire defense, and perhaps the entire team. However, no more talent will be added to this group, other than defensive tackle Vic Burley returning from his suspension this week. It is why recruitment is still so important for Clemson, both out of high school and by way of the portal.
What we are seeing out of the defensive backfield could be the blueprint for Swinney redefining his entire Clemson tenure. Adapt or die. After it was starting to look like he was going to choose the latter, Swinney has embraced the transfer portal to extend his Clemson shelf life. If only he would have done that at the quarterback position this past offseason. Hopefully, this is a learning moment.
While Swinney has a bad reputation with the transfer portal to overcome, it is comments like the one above that show us even an old dog can learn new tricks. Even if Clemson's season goes to hell in a handbasket over the next month or so, the first two weeks have provided Swinney enough evidence that using the transfer portal effectively can be to Clemson's benefit. It may just be too little, too late.
Slowly but surely, Swinney's well-documented distrust of the transfer portal is gradually going away.
Add us as a preferred source on Google