Clemson has spent years trying to win the old way — build through high school recruiting, develop in-house, and only dip into the transfer portal when the math forces it.
On Wednesday, Dabo Swinney made it clear the math is coming.
Speaking during Clemson’s signing day press conference, Swinney said the Tigers’ transfer portal class for the 2026 cycle will be bigger than last offseason’s, not because Clemson has changed its beliefs, but because Clemson doesn’t have the luxury of standing still.
“You don’t have any choice,” Swinney said.
Last offseason, Clemson took three portal players. Swinney isn’t promising a specific number this time. He is promising the reality will demand more.
“Nothing has changed” — except the circumstances
Swinney insisted Clemson’s portal philosophy remains the same. The trigger points haven’t changed; the volume of trigger points has.
“Nothing has changed with us as far as what puts us in the portal,” Swinney said. Then he listed the reality every roster is living now:
- If Clemson can’t land the high school player it wants, the portal becomes the replacement route.
- If Clemson gets a late decommit, the portal becomes the emergency exit because there’s no high school recruiting reset button two weeks before signing day.
- If someone leaves that Clemson didn’t want to leave, the portal becomes the only way to keep scholarship numbers and position rooms from cracking.
- If development doesn’t hit on schedule — injuries, slow growth, missed evaluations — the portal becomes the patch-and-plug solution.
Clemson, Swinney admitted, has already dealt with decommits, and filling those holes late is exactly why the portal exists.
The number could be two… or seven...or 17 (we kid here).
Swinney didn’t pretend he has a clean count, because Clemson’s roster isn’t settled — and won’t be for a while.
“I don’t really know,” he said. “I know what our needs are, but I don’t know if we’re gonna sign two guys or we sign seven guys. I have no idea, because our roster is not settled.”
That line matters more than the estimate. It signals what Clemson is preparing for: the portal isn’t a shopping spree. It’s the final step after roster churn reveals what you actually have.
NFL decisions + portal exits are the real drivers
Swinney pointed straight to the two levers that will decide Clemson’s portal behavior:
- Juniors weighing the NFL Draft
- Players entering the portal
“We’ve got guys that have to make decisions,” Swinney said, noting he already knows “a couple guys” will enter the portal, with others still undecided. He called it a “great opportunity” for players looking for a better fit or a clearer path.
The key word he kept coming back to was “fluid.” Clemson can’t fill gaps that don’t exist yet — but it also can’t ignore gaps that are coming.
The window shift gives Clemson one thing it rarely gets: time
Swinney also highlighted the scheduling change that, in his mind, makes this whole process slightly less chaotic. With the transfer portal window moved to January, Clemson can focus on signing day first, then evaluate the roster with clearer eyes after decisions settle.
“The good news is the portal has been moved,” Swinney said. “I still think it needs to be changed, but it’s in a better spot so we can focus on this part of it, and then you can kind of see how your roster shakes out and you fill the gaps that you have.”
For Clemson, that’s the point. The portal isn’t replacing recruiting. It’s replacing uncertainty — once the roster finally tells the truth.