CLEMSON – The spring transfer portal window for college football has come and gone.

And though Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has always taken jabs regarding the program’s lack of using the transfer portal, he does not get enough credit for its success in maintaining its players.

The spring portal closed on April 25, and the Tigers lost only cornerback Tavoy Feagin. He entered the portal on April 16, the day it opened for the spring period.

Clemson concluded spring drills with its annual Orange & White Spring Game on April 5. Feagin did not participate in the game and was not on the field with his teammates.

After the game, the Clemson coach was asked about the redshirt freshman.

“He was just not out there,” Swinney said.

Feagin, who landed at Ole Miss, played in just two games in 2024, while taking 11 defensive snaps. He has four years of eligibility remaining.

It comes as a surprise, to some, Clemson did not lose more to the portal when the spring ended. Some believed the Tigers might lose a running back or two considering it is a crowded room.

However, none of that came to fruition.

Counting the winter cycle, Clemson lost just six players to the transfer portal in totality. Feagin joined wide receiver Troy Stellato (Kentucky), defensive tackle Tre Williams (Michigan), defensive end A.J. Hoffler (Ga. Tech), safety Sherrod Covil, Jr. (Virginia Tech) and wide receiver Noble Johnson (Arizona State) as eligible players who left Clemson for “greener pastures.”

The number of transfers was cut in half from last year, when 12 eligible players from the 2023 roster transferred to other schools.

“If everything stayed the same today, we feel good about our roster,” Swinney said after the spring game. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re ready to go to battle with the guys we got.”

Besides just losing six players, the Tigers also brought in three players, who they feel will make an immediate impact on the team this coming fall. Wide receiver Tristan Smith had an outstanding spring and appears to be their answer to some red zone issues from last fall.

Defensive end Will Heldt also had a great spring and his size and talent will add to a defensive front that will be one of, if not the best line in the ACC.

Linebacker Jeremiah Alexander also had a great spring and will be in the mix at middle linebacker.

Though this past winter Clemson reached into the portal and pulled out three potential stars, the Tigers have done a great job retaining their star power and keeping the nucleus of the team together.

Since 2018, when the transfer portal began, Clemson has lost just 60 players or 7.5 players per year.

While other schools saw key players and contributors jump into the portal in the most recent cycle, Clemson’s roster was pretty much left alone and is ready to roll as the 2025 season approaches.

“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,” Swinney said. “We’ve been unique and different for sixteen years.

“I’m not against the portal, 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.”