Auerbach: Dabo Swinney’s obstinate transfer strategy is costing Clemson more than it used to.
With a team full of important players obtained through the transfer portal, Florida State defeated LSU 45–24 on Sunday to declare their return to the elite group of College Football Playoff hopefuls. A team that has been playing at that level for years and has made a concerted effort to avoid utilizing the gateway was defeated by Duke the very following night.
Because Clemson hasn’t changed with the times, this program is losing ground and is no longer at the top of the league. Dabo Swinney’s team competed for four national titles between 2015 and 2019 and took home two of them. Since 2020, Clemson has not even sniffed the CFP.
Since the NCAA relaxed its transfer regulations in 2021, allowing all undergraduate football players to move once and immediately begin playing, the Tigers’ future was clearly in jeopardy. Since the transfer portal’s launch in 2018, Swinney has made a point of avoiding utilizing it in public. Like other coaches, he would rather fill his squad by recruiting high school athletes. Unlike other coaches, though, Swinney is unwilling to deviate from this approach and is instead fighting the impulse to fill roster gaps with outside assistance that may damage the team dynamic.
To be honest, it is insufficient for most projects. Numerous instances of coaches deftly sorting through the site and locating the correct individuals at the proper spots to strengthen their present squads have been available in the early going of the 2023 season. Deion Sanders apparently overnight transformed a one-win Colorado club into must-see TV, even though he accomplished it in an extreme manner. Texas State head coach GJ Kinne shuffled his starting lineup in order to build up the Bobcats’ thrilling victory over Baylor in Week 1. Lane Kiffin has done everything in an effort to strengthen Ole Miss. Additionally, Mike Norvell of Florida State may be the current gold standard for portal utilization, bringing in elite players like former Michigan State receiver Keon Coleman and uncovering hidden talents like Jared Verse from Albany.
He made his FSU debut with nine receptions for 122 yards and three touchdowns. For some time now, Norvell has had a high success record with transfers. Florida State had three players make the first team all-ACC last season, and all three were transfers. Seven of its eight All-ACC selections in 2021 were transfers.
These are the coaches that understand and welcome the state of collegiate football in 2023. Swinney doesn’t. He’s discovering the hard way that opposing development kills organizations.
