CLEMSON — The NCAA got something right.
On Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief approved a one-time blanket waiver that allows designated student-athletes to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal outside of the standard transfer windows.
The waiver applies to individuals identified as Designated Student-Athletes (DNA) under the House settlement and enables them to declare their intent to transfer between July 7-Aug. 5. The waiver creates a unique transfer portal window for DNA, distinct from the regular transfer periods.
An athlete is eligible to be placed on a DSA list if they were eligible for practice and/or competition on a team last year and if they lost their roster spot because of the new roster limits, as a result of the House settlement or was an eligible member of a team in 2024-25, such as walk-ons or was recruited and assured by their school of a 2025-26 roster spot.
Athletes put on a DSA list are exempt from roster limits at their current school and are exempt from roster limits at their new school should they transfer. The DSA tag remains with the athlete for their career, which was another piece negotiated in the settlement.
“I think it is the right thing to do,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said in May to The Clemson Insider at the ACC’s Spring Meetings when asked about the possibility of those DSA that walked-on in 2024-25 getting the opportunity to be grandfathered in. “It is a win for the young people that have sacrificed a lot to create an opportunity for themselves in life through doing the work.”
Tuesday’s action by the NCAA came about after federal judge Claudia Wilken informed the NCAA back in May that she would not approve the House settlement unless some changes were made regarding new roster limits.
The settlement agreement initially required schools to trim their rosters. Football for instance, which has as many as 120 players (85 scholarships + walk-ons) will be forced to trim down to 105 scholarship players by the start of the season.
“You grandfather all the kids that were on the roster, and you give them an opportunity to finish. That’s the right thing to do,” Swinney said. “And to me, it’s low-hanging fruit. It avoids a lawsuit, most likely.
“The crazy thing, we said this last summer, but now that it’s gotten to the finish line, it’s pretty obvious – you’re going to take an opportunity away that otherwise would be there. It might matriculate three or four years or so, but we’ve got some kids that are going on their fourth year or their fifth year that we’re going to have to cut. Now, the good news, we don’t have to cut till the first week of [the Aug. 30 season opener vs.] LSU, to 105.”
Still, making those cuts is something Swinney has admittedly been “dreading.” He has not been a fan of having to cut his walk-on program and has expressed how difficult it would be to cut players this summer to meet the requirement.
Swinney, though, pointed out that some of Clemson’s players have already “kind of cut themselves.”
“We haven’t cut anybody yet – we had some kids that cut themselves because they knew, well, I’ve got to go through mat drills, spring ball, summer workouts, fall camp, just to get cut,” Swinney said. “And that was really sad for me because it’s just unbelievably tough and committed young people that are chasing their dreams and just trying to be the best version of themselves, and relationships and all the things that come from being a part of a team.”
Swinney, of course, was a walk-on at Alabama, where he earned a roster spot and eventually a scholarship. He was a part of the Tide’s 1992 National Championship team. He then became a graduate assistant at Alabama and later an assistant coach.
He made his way to Clemson as Tommy Bowden’s wide receivers coach in 2003 and became the Tigers interim head coach in 2008 following Bowden’s mid-season resignation and earned the permanent head coaching title in December of the same year.
Since then, Swinney has compiled a 180-47 record at Clemson, winning two National Championships and nine ACC titles.