Dabo Swinney talks on Clemson's "relationship-driven" transfer portal strategy

Dabo Swinney, the coach of the Clemson Tigers, has developed a unique strategy toward his program's use of the transfer portal. This has been something that the Tigers have not done much, relying on recruitment to bring in new players.

Swinney spoke to Athlon Sports about their recruiting:

"It speaks to our culture amid change. These guys can leave anytime they want, but I think we’re relationship-driven. There’s a transaction, but it’s not transactional.”

In all, the Clemson Tigers have retained 16 members of its 2024 roster for the 2025 season. These include players such as Blake Miller, Tristen Leigh and quarterback Cade Klubnik.

According to Swinney, this is all due to the culture that he has helped create at Clemson. It is a culture that is heavily based on relationship building and connecting with his players.

In the same article, Swinney spoke about his team's use (or lack of use) of the transfer portal:

“I know everyone says we’re against the portal, but we’ve used the portal three of the last four years. Last year, we didn’t have a choice.”

The introduction of the transfer portal, and then the relaxation of the rules concerning a transferred player's eligibility, has made retaining players much harder.

Moreover, players can now be enticed to teams with NIL deals. However, in building trust and a strong culture between him and his players at Clemson, Dabo Swinney has limited the number of players leaving through the portal.

Dabo Swinney on if Clemson is going to host a Spring game

Dabo Swinney has also given an update on whether the Clemson Tigers are going to cancel their spring game this year as many leading programs have done. However, Swinney had no intention to do this:

"We’re going to have a spring game. Hopefully, we can include some sort of fan event with it, too, but we’ll see.”

Swinney added that the game will allow those players who may not get a snap in the regular season to actually have some time on the field.

This is another example of Dabo Swinney going against the trends of the college football landscape and putting his players first.