Dabo Swinney addresses Sergio Allen entering transfer portal

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is big on loyalty to the program, though his program is certainly not immune to the reality of college football these days. In a world of instant eligibility and the NCAA transfer portal, even Swinney’s squad sometimes suffers a defection, like Monday when linebacker Sergio Allen entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Allen, a junior from Fort Valley, Ga., opted to hit the portal following the team’s second game of the season.

“I mean there’s not really much reaction,” Swinney said. “2022. Great kid, love him. Wish him well.”

In three seasons at Clemson, Allen had recorded 11 tackles. He had played just five snaps so far this season on defense for the Tigers, though he managed to record two tackles (one coming on special teams) in Saturday’s 35-12 win over Furman.

The Tigers currently rank No. 20 nationally in scoring defense, giving up 11.0 points per game.

Dabo Swinney chimes in on transfer portal era

Though Allen has opted to hit the NCAA transfer portal, Swinney’s Clemson program has typically not been one of the more active as far as players looking for opportunities elsewhere.

The Tigers lost a handful of players after the 2021 season but hadn’t had anyone depart after the winter transfer window ended.

A Sergio Allen transfer will change that, assuming he stays in the transfer portal and finds a new destination. Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

In any case, Swinney seemed to virtually shrug at Allen’s decision when asked about it.

“We had 109 guys go through spring. They all stayed,” he said. “It’s just kind of where we are in college football, especially they put the four-game rule in to be a positive to be able to play kids. And then it’s kind of turned into — you’ll see other guys leave, either here or elsewhere between now and these first four games. That’s just kind of the nature of college football these days.”