Dabo Swinney is always criticized for not using the transfer portal like other programs. It is constantly brought up by the national media when Clemson is playing.
However, what many of them fail to mention, in Swinney’s defense, is his ability to retain his current players. Few programs retain the core of their rosters from year-to-year the way Clemson does.
“We’ve recruited well, so we’ve been a developmental program for a long time,” Swinney said. “You know what puts us in the portal? Starters leaving our program. But if you look at our roster, we just had a lot of retention.”
He is not wrong. Case in point, look at this current transfer portal window.
Yes, the Tigers lost five players to the transfer portal, but losing five pales in comparison to other programs within the ACC and around the country that have 10, 15, 20 or 25 players enter the portal. And when looking at those five players Clemson lost, only one had starting experience, but he was not a full-time starter.
Granted Clemson would have loved to have kept wide receiver Troy Stellato, who started four games this past year, but there is still plenty of talent to go around at receiver, especially if Antonio Williams decides to return for his senior season and not enter the NFL Draft.
Besides losing Stellato to the portal, the Tigers lost reserve defensive end A.J. Hoffler, seldom used receiver Noble Johnson, reserve safety Sherrod Covil and walk-on wideout Jackson Crosby.
With the portal window for the fall closing tonight (Dec. 28) at 11:59 p.m., look at who the Tigers retained. Quarterback Cade Klubnik is coming back. Defensive end T.J. Parker is back, as is defensive tackle Peter Woods and linebacker Wade Woodaz.
You have to credit Swinney and the Clemson program, along with the 110 Society, for getting the job done. You also have to give credit to those Clemson fans who contributed to the 110 Society to make it happen.
Each year it has been a challenge for the Tigers to retain top players who have received significant NIL offers from other schools. This offseason the revenue share from the settlement was added to the equation.
The challenge reached a new level this month with teams making runs at a number of Clemson’s top players. Swinney, Clemson and the 110 Society were able to increase funding to meet the challenge and once again retain their key players.
Following the Tigers’ loss to Texas in last week’s first round of the College Football Playoff, Swinney was confident the majority of his roster was going to return for another run in 2025.
Swinney believes with what he has coming back, along with portal additions at defensive end (Will Heldt) and wide receiver (Tristan Smith), and the incoming freshmen, his Clemson program can take another step forward.
“We got a chance to be a really, really good football team,” he said. “Grow and get better and build on some things we put in place this year. It’s my job to make sure we do that.”
A wide receiver from Southeast Missouri State. Smith (6-5, 205) played two years at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas before transferring to Southeast Missouri State. He had 76 receptions for 934 yards and 6 touchdowns with the RedHawks.
Heldt (6-5, 265) had 56 tackles, including 10 for loss, and five sacks in his second year with the Boilermakers. He has two years of eligibility remaining and is the first scholarship defensive player to transfer to Clemson under Swinney.
Editor’s note: To support student-athletes at Clemson and to give to the 110 Society, please click on the link. All contributions to the 110 Society made between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025 will be eligible to earn IPTAY Priority Points. More information on how this will work will be communicated in the near future.