The ACC's two most disappointing results from the opening weekend(s) in college football provided a comparison of the possible impact of extremes in portal use...non-use and excessive use. Nobody has shunned the portal like Dabo, whose Clemson squad was boat-raced by UGA. On the other hand, nobody has embraced the portal like Norvell, who has committed to re-tooling his roster almost entirely from the portal. In conjunction with embracing the portal, Norvell has had less success in recruiting, failing to draw a top 10 class during his tenure, with 3 classes falling outside the top 20.
Personally, I applaud Dabo's stance on the portal. My opinion is that their loss to UGA had more to do with Klubnik being a bust (compared to his 5* status) than the portal....he's DJU 2.0. And, UGA is just that much better than almost everyone else. Nevertheless, the portal is reality and programs like UGA use it smartly (as much it sickens me to say that) to supplement their high school recruiting and plug holes/fill gaps. However, on the other end of the spectrum you have Norvell, who has been called the Portal King, leaning very heavily on the portal as a primary source of talent. He found that magic formula with the portal last year, but Keon Coleman's don't grow on trees.
Hopefully, situations like FSU and Colorado will serve as somewhat cautionary tales with portal use, but probably not.
Personally, I applaud Dabo's stance on the portal. My opinion is that their loss to UGA had more to do with Klubnik being a bust (compared to his 5* status) than the portal....he's DJU 2.0. And, UGA is just that much better than almost everyone else. Nevertheless, the portal is reality and programs like UGA use it smartly (as much it sickens me to say that) to supplement their high school recruiting and plug holes/fill gaps. However, on the other end of the spectrum you have Norvell, who has been called the Portal King, leaning very heavily on the portal as a primary source of talent. He found that magic formula with the portal last year, but Keon Coleman's don't grow on trees.
Hopefully, situations like FSU and Colorado will serve as somewhat cautionary tales with portal use, but probably not.
Last edited: