When it comes to the transfer portal and how Clemson handles its business on that front, Dabo Swinney says the Tigers are “going to do it right.”

Clemson will not be cutting any deals in the portal prior to the portal opening on Jan. 2. Clemson’s head coach is referencing others cutting deals prior to a player entering the portal, which can be interpreted as tampering.

“I mean, I know everybody’s working all these deals. We don’t do that,” Swinney said on Monday. “So, some of the best players out there, they’ll go in the portal, and 10 minutes later, ‘I’m committed somewhere.’ That ain’t how we operate here. We’re going to do it right. We’re going to do it right. And we’re not going to cut deals with people and all that stuff. I don’t care what other people do.”

Swinney made those comments during his press conference on Monday, when asked about the schedule after Clemson’s upcoming bowl game and how fast things move when the transfer portal opens shortly after the bowl.

As you know, Clemson continues to prepare to play Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 (noon, ABC). The Tigers will get back home late that night, and then the portal officially opens six days later on Jan. 2.

Clemson welcomes 20 freshmen to the team, most of whom will enroll in January. However, the Tigers will have two weeks to bring in some more talent from the portal, after it opens.

There is only one transfer portal window this year for college football, and it runs from Jan. 2 through Jan. 16.

“We’ll see who’s in there,” Swinney said. “We’ll get rolling that weekend. Everybody will have a couple days to just kind of recalibrate, reset, refocus on what we gotta do. Obviously the new year, and then hey, we’ll be right back in here that weekend and there’ll be a big staff meeting. We’ll move in the midyears on the 4th, and then we’ve got that whole week of trying to – obviously we’ve got to fill some spots on our roster, and visits and all that. Plus, we’ll be out on the road recruiting. So, we’ve got the ’27 class, we’ve got portal stuff we’ve got to deal with, just like everybody else. We’ll have our banquet. There’s a lot going on that time of year.”

Last offseason, Clemson signed three players from the transfer portal – former Alabama edge rusher Jeremiah Alexander, former Purdue defensive end Will Heldt and former Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Tristan Smith.

Earlier this month, Swinney said he wasn’t sure exactly how many players Clemson will add via the portal in the 2026 cycle, but he knows it will be a bigger portal class this offseason than last.

Swinney said “nothing has changed” as far as Clemson’s transfer portal strategy going into this offseason, though the Tigers will have to take more portal players this year due to various circumstances.