Dabo Swinney calls out coverage of Clemson using transfer portal in 2025: 'Nothing different'

Clemson hasn’t dipped into the transfer portal too much this offseason having signed three players thus far — but the Tigers have secured more commitments from the portal this year than ever before.

What’s caused this sudden shift in Clemson’s portal perspective? According to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, nothing. The Tigers’ bread and butter still lies in the high school recruiting scene.

“Our process is still the same. We’re going to recruit high school kids as long as we can get the best of the best — as long as we can go get the Gideon Davidson’s of the world, Sammy Brown’s of the world, the T.J. Parker’s, Peter Woods’ and Cade Klubnik’s,” Swinney said. “If we have a situation, and we have a gap in our roster or we have kids that leave that all of a sudden create a gap, then you have to address that.”

The three players that Clemson have signed so far include WR Tristan Smith from Missouri State, Will Heldt, a DL from Purdue, and former Alabama LB Jeremiah Alexander. All of these signings correlated to a void Clemson had on its roster at the time.

Smith committed to the Tigers after a pair of Clemson wideouts hit the portal, while Heldt was acquired after an EDGE recruit flipped before the season while four-star EDGE Ari Watford is recovering from a torn ACL.

Signing players out of the portal isn’t something that’s new for Clemson, either, as Swinney noted. However, last offseason the Tigers were one of four teams at the FBS level to not add a single transfer.

“The crazy thing is we signed a portal guy three out of the last four years,” Swinney continued. “As I always said, we do what’s best for Clemson, and I’ve always said we’ll use the portal whenever we need it, and we’ll be strategic with it.”

As it stands, Clemson has the No. 24 overall recruiting class in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. That’s 10 spots below their final 2024 ranking, and is good for fourth-best in the ACC. However, Clemson does benefit from returning all of its starters from the end of last season who have remaining eligibility.

That includes star quarterback Cade Klubnik, who many believe will have a breakout senior season in Death Valley.