Clemson general manager Jordan Sorrells let Tiger fans take a peek behind the curtain of college football in the NIL and transfer portal era with the 2 Right Turns Podcast this week.
Sorrells appeared with new football personnel staffer Kevin Kelly to break down the key elements of building a roster now. Entering the 2025 season, Clemson retains a group that’s ranked No. 1 in returning production according to ESPN.
That takes money in today’s college football world, and the success in retention is proof Dabo Swinney‘s program was ready for that this offseason in particular.
“We have arguably the most experienced roster in the country coming back next year, and it’s not just experience, it’s experience and it’s talent, which in turn means it’s expensive,” Sorrells said. “Those things when you have talent and experience, those tend to cost money. So I give a ton of credit to Graham (Neff) and to our board, to even President (Jim) Clements, the way that they’ve wrapped their arms around this and been able to adapt to a new landscape. And to our fanbase, who has been generous. They’ve provided opportunities and they’ve given us the resources we need to go compete, and ultimately retain what we believe is a championship-caliber roster.”
Sorrell reiterated the administration and fans working together brings that kind of success.
“We’re second in the country in retention over the last five years,” Sorrells said. “So those dots are pretty easy to connect, right? You don’t finish second in retention year over year over year without paying your guys fair market value, right? Being able to provide opportunity to them on the financial side of things too. We’ve got to continue to do that. We’ve got to continue to invest. Our fanbase, I think again has bought into that. I’m extremely appreciative, especially as we went through that round of getting everybody under contract right after the season was over. I could take a few deep breaths of, ‘OK, we’re good. We have the resources we need to be able to retain this roster.’
“And being able to do that, and return all the players we returned, with Cade Klubnik and T.J. Parkerand Peter Woods and Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore, the list goes on and on. Two three and four-year starters at tackle. Those guys cost money, and for us to be able to retain them and not have to go out to the portal and seek them all out because we had a bunch of guys leave, that matters a ton.”
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