During his weekly radio show Monday night, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney addressed the program’s transfer portal pursuits along the offensive line this past portal cycle.

Swinney said the staff targeted “three or four” offensive linemen this past cycle and simply missed on their targeted offensive line prospects, but “it wasn’t for a lack of effort.”

As you know, Swinney has been heavily criticized for some of his roster-building decisions, including not adding offensive linemen through the transfer portal this past offseason. The scrutiny heated up following struggles in the trenches during the 2026 season.

“We tried on three or four offensive linemen,” Swinney said. “We felt like if we could find an older tackle… we tried, we couldn’t get ‘em. But it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Then once we got through those three or four guys, Matt [offensive line coach Matt Luke] just felt like where we were, is we develop these guys.”

Swinney and the Tigers took a deeper dive into the transfer portal this past cycle, adding double-digit players via the portal. While Clemson made a lot of moves in the portal, almost all of them came on the defensive side of the ball.

“We use the portal to fill the needs we have,” Swinney said. “If we get a decommitment, we’re going to use the portal. If we get somebody that transfers, we’re going to use the portal. If we have somebody that’s hurt… we’ve gotta use the portal. That’s what it’s for, and that’s how we used it.

“We had a D-lineman leave early. We had D-linemen transfer. We had two safeties transfer. So, that was where our transfers took place, and we filled that void.”

Speaking on his broader transfer portal philosophy, Swinney says as long as he’s the head coach at Clemson, “we’re going to always be a developmental team.”

“We’ll always be a developmental team, and then we’ll use the portal to fill the gaps,” Swinney said. “You have to use the portal because it’s 105 scholarships now, so you have to always fill the gap, and I thought we did a good job with that this past year.”

Clemson (4-2, 2-1 ACC) returns to the field Saturday when it hosts Virginia Tech at Memorial Stadium (7 p.m., ESPN).