Swinney Details Concern for High School Recruits
By: Cameron Burnett December 8, 2023

The newfound landscape of college football affects many, and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney detailed one of the casualties that comes with it.

During his availability for the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, Swinney held court about the transfer portal on multiple accounts. One of those is how it impacts high school recruiting.

Swinney has always seen high school recruits as the main way to bring tslent into your program, and it’s helped him win the national titles. With the emphasis on the portal, Swinney said those kids are getting the short end of the stick.

“First of all, I think it is sad what is going on with high school recruiting, honestly. There are a lot of high school kids that are not getting signed anymore. That is a really sad thing, and there are a lot of high school kids that have been committed a long time, but now all of sudden the portal comes open and they are being pushed to the side or told, ‘They might want to look around,’” Swinney said.

While discussing this issue, Swinney emphasized that there’s “a lot of things that should change” and one of those was the high school signing period. December was once the time for high school recruits, but no longer.

Now that’s reserved for coaching carousels and non-stop transfer portal decisions. With that in mind, Swinney thinks high school recruits should have a different time frame while still having an out.

“So, I honestly, I wish they would put the signing period maybe on August 1 or something just to where these kids could sign and be done with it and free them up. If the head coach left or is fired. I think they need an out there,” Swinney said.

It’s still early in this era of the sport, so there’s a lot of ironing out to do. Swinney is clearly concerned about the trajectory, and wants high school recruits to be protected in all means moving forward.

To honor Clemson’s special senior class Dear Old Clemson is selling footballs signed by 7 of Clemson’s Avengers for only $100.  These limited edition footballs are signed by Thomas, Orhorhoro, Davis, Mascoll, Henry, Murphy and Williams.  Get one while supplies last.