After signing three players from the NCAA transfer portal last offseason, Clemson added 10 players via the portal in the 2026 cycle.
However, the Tigers still didn’t do enough during the transfer portal window, according to this national out.
Manny Navarro of The Athletic tabbed Clemson as one team that “didn’t really do enough” in the portal:
“You can’t fault Dabo Swinney for what happened with linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who bolted for Ole Miss in the 11th hour. But the Tigers needed to bring in some real reinforcements after a disappointing 7-6 season and didn’t really do enough in my eyes. Clemson replaced two starting safeties who left via the portal — Ricardo Jones (Vanderbilt) and Khalil Barnes (Georgia) — with two guys from Group of 6 programs in Jerome Carter (Old Dominion) and Corey Myrick (Southern Miss). Then, Swinney addressed the losses on the defensive line to the NFL Draft with four players who combined to make two starts last season.
“All those losses on offense? The Tigers signed one running back via the portal. Maybe Clemson has some amazing recent high school players just waiting to blow up, but it feels like even keeping Ferrelli wouldn’t have been enough to alter Clemson’s downward trajectory.”
As Navarro alluded to, there wasn’t much added on the offensive side of the ball via the transfer portal. However, when Keith Adams Jr. decided to transfer out, that did open up a spot at running back, and Swinney filled it with SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr. — arguably the fastest back in the country.
Meanwhile, the Tigers picked up nine portal commitments on the defensive side of the ball, including five defensive linemen (London Merritt from Colorado; Markus Strong from Oklahoma; Kourtney Kelly from West Georgia; Andy Burburija from Nebraska; CJ Wesley from Howard) and four defensive backs (Donovan Starr from Auburn; Elliot Washington II from Penn State; Carter from Old Dominion; Myrick from Southern Miss).
Clemson was also recently pegged by CBS Sports as one loser of the 2026 portal window.
