While Clemson hasn’t been heavily involved in the transfer market in recent years, Dabo Swinney has long said he’s open to adding players from other programs if there is a “gap” in the Tigers’ roster.
Swinney hinted strongly during his pre-Gator Bowl press conference on Dec. 7 that he’s recruiting transfers to fill holes along the offensive line because of some swings and misses on the high school recruiting trail.
“Nothing’s really changed for us with the exception of this year we’ve got one position, in particular, we’d like to find a couple of guys that maybe have multiple years of eligibility,” Swinney said. “And really that’s only because we missed out on some of the top high school kids that we were after.”
Swinney also reiterated that some programs have been improperly using name, image, and likeness (NIL) pay as an inducement for transferring, and are “tampering” by contacting players before the transfer window even opens.
“Portal’s not the problem, NIL’s not the problem. The problem is tampering,” Swinney said. “That is the problem in college football and that could be fixed easily, too, if they let football people fix it. But we don’t usually get a vote in that. But that’s the biggest challenge we’re dealing with.”
Swinney recently dismissed Clemson’s offensive line coach, Thomas Austin, replacing him with Matt Luke, and a lack of success on the recruiting trail might have been a factor. The Tigers only had one prospect committed in the 2024 class, Ronan O’Connell, until they flipped Daniel High’s Watson Young from Appalachian State last week.
Clemson’s misses this cycle included in-staters Kam Pringle and Blake Franks, who both committed to rival South Carolina.
Rivals and 247Sports have reported Clemson has visits set up with two transfer offensive linemen, Middle Tennessee State’s Keylan Rutledge and Shorter University’s Alan Herron. They are both sophomores.
Rutledge, a 6-foot-4, 308-pound offensive guard, was a first-team All-Conference USA selection this season. Herron, originally from Jamaica, is a 6-6, 310-pound tackle who has also played guard.
“We evaluate the portal just like we evaluate anything else. We got a huge staff that’s on top of that stuff,” Swinney said. “And if we feel like there’s a need, then we’ll try to fill that need.”
As Swinney has pointed out, the Tigers tried to recruit a pair of offensive linemen from the transfer portal in 2022, current NFLers O’Cyrus Torrence and Olu Oluwatimi. But they went to Florida and Michigan, respectively.
Clemson can want a player, Swinney said, but those players have to want Clemson just as much.
The Tigers have lost eight players to the transfer portal since it opened on Dec. 4, including three-year starters Beaux Collins (receiver) and Andrew Mukuba (safety) and former highly touted recruits in sophomore corner Toriano Pride Jr. and freshman defensive end David Ojiegbe.
The transfer portal and bowl opt-outs have become something coaches have to contend with in late November and early December, though Swinney said he felt the process has been smoother this time around because the NCAA instituted a recruiting “dead period” the week after the regular-season finale.
Time spent off the recruiting trail allowed coaches to sit with their current players and gauge their plans. Aside from a few transfers, and bowl opt-outs Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Nate Wiggins, and Ruke Orhorhoro, Swinney said he believes Clemson will have “all hands on deck” for the Gator Bowl.
