Offseasons have gotten tougher for college football (and basketball) coaches during the NIL era. Dabo Swinney has not only had to piece together a high school recruiting class and dip his toe into the transfer portal as of late, but he's also working hard to retain his top players every year.
Tampering has ran rampant throughout college football offseasons for the past few years and it's only getting messier with more NIL money being involved.
So it wasn't all that shocking to hear guys like Cade Klubnik, Peter Woods, and TJ Parker all admit that other schools tried to make a run at them this offseason. They spoke about why they stayed, but one quote from Parker really stood out to me during ACC Media Days.
The junior defensive end delivered a powerful message to those trying to poach him from Clemson:
Spoke with Clemson QB Cade Klubnik, DT Peter Woods and DE T.J. Parker yesterday about tampering -- all three players implied other schools had made a run at them -- and why they stuck with the Tigers. Parker: "There's no point in me leaving if I have everything I want here" https://t.co/eFx961hKd3
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) July 25, 2025
"There's no point in me leaving if I have everything I want here."
That's a heck of a quote that Dabo should be proud of. He's done a good enough job of building Clemson into a powerhouse while also maintaining an elite culture and family atmosphere that a projected top-five pick in the 2026 NFL Draft didn't even consider leaving for better offers because he has everything he wants already. That's quite the endorsement.
Heck, that's a quote that I would get framed and put up in my office if I were Dabo. When Parker is inevitably terrorizing quarterbacks in the NFL on Sundays, Dabo can look back at this quote and realize he helped build him into the player he has become.
It's not a coincidence that all of these Clemson players, past and present, rave about the culture and family atmosphere that Dabo has built. It's why he's a legend.