Clemson’s Dabo Swinney sat down with George Wrighster on the Unafraid Show for a wide-ranging interview.

Among the many topics Swinney discussed is the transfer portal, with the longtime head coach clearing up the portal misconceptions regarding Clemson. 

“I think there’s two ways to be successful – you can do what everybody else does and just try to outwork, outsmart them, this and that, or you can be unique and different. We’ve been unique and different for 16 years,” said Swinney, who is now entering his 17th full season as Clemson’s head coach in 2025.

“I’m not against the portal,” he added. “But when you have the highest retention rates in the country and highest graduation rates, kids are staying. So, this is not a catch-and-release program. This is not a place where we’re going to run guys off.”

Swinney added that he doesn’t “judge” other coaches and programs who utilize the transfer portal differently than the Tigers.

“We’re not against the portal,” he reiterated. “We’ve used the portal three out of four years. Nobody wants to talk about that. It’s a great tool. If I left today and took a job somewhere, half the team would leave. Well, you can’t go sign 40 freshmen. You’ve got to go build a team. I don’t judge anybody. Everybody’s situation is different. But our retention is pretty unique. And the reason it’s so high is our process on the front end. So, we’re getting the best high school kids that we think.”

Of course, Swinney has taken plenty of heat over the years for his approach to the transfer portal, with the narrative having been that he refused to use it.

But of course, this offseason, Swinney made multiple moves in the portal following the disappointing loss to Texas in the opening round of the College Football Playoff – bringing in a trio of talented transfers in former Purdue defensive end Will Heldt, former Alabama edge rusher Jeremiah Alexander and former Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Tristan Smith.

“This past year, we signed three, but we didn’t have a choice. And everybody has to use the portal now,” Swinney said. “Because if you have kids leave in the spring – and that hasn’t been the case for us – if you have kids leave in the spring, who are you going to go get in May? There’s no high school kids. But it just hasn’t been our situation, and that goes back to our process, our relationships.”

Swinney says Clemson’s process when it comes to high school recruiting and the transfer portal “is fulfilling our purpose,” and “if it’s not fulfilling somebody else’s purpose, well, I’m not trying to fulfill somebody else’s purpose.”

Swinney mentioned a few current Clemson stars who could’ve hit the portal but didn’t.

“They’re coming here because they really align with who we are, and they’re staying here,” Swinney said. “You don’t think Peter Woods and T.J. Parker and Cade (Klubnik), you don’t think these guys could go in the portal? Sure they could, but they’re happy.

“So, you don’t hear anything bad about Clemson from inside Clemson. It’s always from people on the outside of our program that don’t know me, they don’t know our program.”

You can check out Swinney’s full interview with Wrighster below: