Dabo Swinney has always been determined to do it his way.

When he took over as the full-time head coach at Clemson following the 2008 season, Swinney had a vision for how he wanted to build his program. Throughout the years, he has followed that vision to a tee, and it has led the Tigers to unprecedented success.

Clemson has won two national titles and played for two more, as Swinney has led the Tigers to six College Football Playoff appearances and won eight ACC Championships. Just last season Swinney became the program’s all-time winningest head football coach.

However, over the last several years, the landscape of college football has shifted dramatically. The advent of the transfer portal, along with NIL and pay for play inducements have totally changed the way many programs recruit and build their rosters.

Not Swinney. While he has no doubt had to adapt to this new era. the head coach is still determined to do it his way. Clemson chooses to focus much of its NIL efforts on player retention more so than enticing high school recruits and transfers.

Swinney is still selling recruits on the Clemson culture and the family-like atmosphere inside the program. He is also determined to keep the education aspect a big part of the experience of Clemson football, and judging by his 2024 signing class, as well as the players he already has committed for 2025, there are still some high school recruits that are buying what he is selling.

Clemson still offers far fewer players than most programs in the country, and that is exactly the way Swinney wants it.

“I think we just know what we’re looking for,” Swinney said back in the spring. “We’re not all things to all people. Our hit rate is really high. If we offer a kid, there’s a good chance… we might get him. I’ve just always wanted our offer to mean something. I’ve never really wanted to water our brand down and offer kids that… they’re not even interested. That’s part of it.”

“I just think evaluation is key, retention is key, development is key. You win with people. That’s how we’ve won here. We’ve won with consistency and we’ve won with those areas; evaluation, retention, development.”

Swinney wants an offer from the Tigers to mean something, and to some, it still does. What he offers is development, on and off the field, and for those players that do choose that route, the NIL will come later.

“I want our offer to mean something,” Swinney said. “That’s why we don’t offer freshmen and sophomores, it’s a developmental game. There’s a lot of great players that have been here at Clemson that would have never gotten an offer as a 10th grader. Because they weren’t good enough. Wouldn’t have gotten many offers from many places, but especially kids that are 14 to 18, the transformation and the development happens there.”

“So, we’ve just always wanted to be slow and right, rather than fast and wrong. We’ve made some mistakes in the past, like anybody, you’re never gonna bat a thousand. The biggest thing is, we know the fit here. We know what we think is the standard at each position and what we’re looking for. Again, our hit rate is pretty good.”

One look at the 2024 class proves Swinney’s culture still resonates with recruits. Eight of the 21 signees ranked inside the Top 100, with five of those inside the Top 100. The class features three players that are former 5-stars. While none of the Tigers’ 11 players committed in the class of 2025 are 5-stars, only four rank outside the Top 200, with four of those inside of the Top 100.

Those numbers prove Clemson’s culture is still attractive. There are still players that covet that offer from the Tigers. Maybe not to all players, but that’s always been the case.

Whether or not Swinney’s recruiting philosophy brings another national title to Clemson is yet to be determined, but as long as we are playing under the current landscape, don’t expect that philosophy to change. Swinney has no interest in players that are looking for money first and foremost. He is looking for players that want to be developed, and players that want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

“Everybody deals with that,” Swinney said of pay for play. “Honestly, it’s made my life easier. It’s made it a simpler process for us. We don’t waste any time in recruiting. It’s pretty clear-cut and up-front. Who really aligns with who we are, and who’s looking for something different. The good news is, there’s a lot of great players out there, and it’s not that they don’t want to do NIL. Absolutely. Our NIL is for retention, not recruiting. That’s how we’ve used it, and that’s been our approach. There’s some kids that are making a decision just on that, and that is fine, to each his own. You don’t judge people for what they think they want to do. But then there’s kids over here that, that’s important, but here’s what they’re really making their decision on. That’s the kids that come to Clemson.”

A limited number of signed footballs from Clemson’s 2022 class are still available.  Get yours while supplies last!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!