In the realm of college football, the transfer portal has become increasingly significant. However, it’s not embraced by everyone. Notably, Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program didn’t take in any transfers during the 2024 cycle.
Swinney is known for his limited engagement with the transfer portal, and this year, Clemson had no activity in this area. While they did explore some options, ultimately, nothing materialized. Clemson was the only team that did not bring in a single transfer apart from the military academies.
For this reason, Clemson ranked N/A in 247Sports ACC football transfer portal rankings.
Dabo Swinney is the outlier, an enigma in this modern age of college athletics. Clemson is the only program outside the service academies to not add a player from the transfer portal. The Tigers lost 12 players to the portal, including a pair of defensive backs (safety Andrew Mukuba and cornerback Toriano Pride Jr.) that were big hits.
“There are a lot of storms around college football right now, but we’re kind of anchored, and it’s not that we’re not affected, but we don’t just get washed out to sea and swim for our lives,” Swinney told CBS Sports.
Only Miami had as many highly-rated departures in the ACC.
Clemson’s 2024 season is incredibly intriguing because of this. If the Tigers achieve their ceiling and win the ACC, making the College Football Playoff, then it’s a huge statement from Swinney and the program. If they don’t, then it’s a completely different conversation.