Dabo Swinney did it his way, and got to the top of College Football. From 2015-2020, Clemson stood at the top of college football with Alabama. Then they gradually fell off, The Tigers are still good, but they aren’t great. Swinney largely avoided the transfer portal and hired from within his top assistants like former OC Brandon Streeter and former DC Wes Godwin.
There was a train of thought that Swinney had become inflexible, and too confined to a particular style to get Clemson to the back of top college football.
This winter Swinney has shown he is willing to adapt.
The Tigers have landed three transfers for Clemson’s 2025 roster so far: Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Tristan Smith, Purdue defensive lineman Will Heldt and Alabama linebacker Jeremiah Alexander. These additions are more than what they have taken in the previous six years of the portal’s existence (two).
Swinney reiterated Clemson has used the portal in the past despite being one of four FBS schools to not add a transfer last season, and added its use of it still depends on roster availability and need.
Wink Wink from Dabo Swinney – this seems like more than that.
When you combined that with the hire of defensive coordinator Tom Allen of Penn State who provided a top 10 defense in 2024 and comes with 8 years of head coaching experience at Indiana.
Swinney went outside the Clemson family to hire OC Garrett Riley and he’s done it again with the hire of Allen.
Dabo Swinney doesn’t have to hire every coach outside the family and he doesn’t have to turnover his roster in the portal, but he’s shown a willingness to be flexible.
Clemson needed those types of moves, and it could pay dividends sooner rather than later.
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