CHARLOTTE — The national talk of the transfer portal seeped heavily into 2023 ACC Kickoff. While on the podium, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney kept it real when asked about the concerns in the portal.

He said that it’s very different for him because he’s been leading the Tigers for 15 years. While he may be more open to it as an up-and-coming coach, he sticks to his formula and the returning talent like Xavier Thomas, Tyler Davis and Will Putnam makes him excited for what the team can do this year. Part of this easiness is Clemson’s maintained success.

“We’re fortunate that way because we’ve been able to — I mean, we’re second winningest team in the country the last 12 years,” Swinney said.

That said, Swinney opened up about the quarterback room and how he’s navigated needs at that position. With depth necessary, he used the work done at quarterback as reference to how the Tigers build their roster needs.

“We’ve gone to the portal where we’ve needed it. We’ve signed a couple of quarterbacks where we felt like we needed a bridge guy, and an older backup veteran that would give us some depth,” Swinney said. “We’ve been able to do that, but we’ve not had a single starter leave Clemson. Not one…at some point we’ll have some gaps that we have to address. We’ve used it as we’ve needed.”

While some may comment about the transfer portal approach, Swinney has built his program on high school recruiting and he doubled down on this during his answer about the portal.

Looking at the recruiting classes over the years, Clemson is always at or near the top of the conference and compete in the top 10 around the country. That’s something Swinney prides himself in and is well aware of when this topic comes up, and referenced a highly touted freshman with the opportunity.

“We’ve never had a number one recruiting class. I don’t think we’ve ever been close. I think we’ve had 13 top-15 classes in a row. Evaluation and development and retention has been how we’ve won at Clemson,” Swinney said. “Again, you see it this year. Seven guys that all could have entered the draft, all came back. The infusion of another great signing class, 15 midyears, I mean, you know, we got — we can go sign Peter Woods. I mean, I’m sure there were some good guys in the portal at D-line, but I like Peter Woods. I kind of like the guys we sign, and I like the guys that are on our team that are developing.”

The Clemson 2022 season wasn’t perfect, but the Tigers still have to be dethroned for Swinney to be proved wrong and that’s a huge advantage to have. Peter Woods is an elite talent, and a testament to where the program still stands nationally. Win another ACC title, and Swinney can shrug when asked about his roster approach.