Clemson
What will Clemson football’s transfer portal strategy look like this month?
It’s to be determined, coach Dabo Swinney said on Wednesday, but the transfer portal could “absolutely” be a factor as the Tigers evaluate their roster needs.
“It just depends,” Swinney said. “If if there’s something unexpected that happens. … Right now, we don’t expect any unexpected. But who knows? Who knows? It’s a good tool to know that you can go get a guy if you need it.”
Speaking in his national early signing day news conference, Swinney emphasized the Tigers “didn’t have a lot of spots” to begin with and that’s why they had a lower output in their 2025 class.
Clemson signed 15 recruits to a class that ranks fourth in the ACC behind Miami, Georgia Tech and SMU, and No. 26 nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite. It’s the lowest ranking for a Tigers recruiting class in recent memory.
Swinney — who has drawn national attention in recent years for the way he and his program have handled the transfer portal — said that’s a sign of Clemson’s strong retention of players already on a roster headed to the ACC championship game.
The Tigers will consider using the transfer portal this season, but “that’s been the case every year,” Swinney emphasized. Clemson was one of only four FBS schools and the only power conference school to not take a single transfer the last cycle.
Clemson has also taken two total transfers over the past three recruiting cycles, and both of them were veteran quarterbacks who never started a game and operated as third-string options (Hunter Johnson for 2022, Paul Tyson for 2023).
The Tigers did take a long look at a number of transfer portal offensive linemen, offering scholarships to a handful last December, but failed to land any of them.
Swinney said Clemson’s post-2024 transfer portal action will likely be reserved for if the team suffers any unexpected departures. The NCAA transfer portal formally opens this Monday, the day after Selection Sunday.
So far, receiver Troy Stellato is the only Tiger to announce intentions to enter.
“Everyone wants us to go to the portal, but I’m gonna let you all call the kids’ parents and say that they’re gonna have to leave,” Swinney said. “I’ll let y’all make that call and tell them that they can no longer be at Clemson. I’m not doing that. I’m just not.”
RETENTION PAYS OFF, DABO SAYS
Out of the 85 scholarship players on Clemson’s roster, the vast majority of them either have remaining eligibility or the option to return for another year. Swinney has indicated multiple times this season he expects most players to return.
The Tigers have a handful of key senior or “super senior” starters who are out of eligibility after this year: RB Phil Mafah, TE Jake Briningstool, LG Marcus Tate, LB Barrett Carter, S R.J. Mickens and DT Payton Page, to name a few.
But most of the primary contributors from a Tigers team that finished 9-3 and 7-1 in the ACC in the regular season are expected to be back in 2025, Swinney said. That includes starting quarterback Cade Klubnik, who will be a senior, and the team’s top young wide receivers, cornerbacks and defensive linemen.
One veteran player, Walker Parks, has already announced he’ll return for a sixth year. Starting defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart has another year of eligibility to use. Capehart, junior WR Antonio Williams and RT Blake Miller all probably have an NFL Draft decision to make after the conclusion of the 2024 season, if not earlier.
“So, you’ve gotta have spots,” Swinney said. “And y’all know our retention. Everybody thinks, ‘Oh, well this guy left.’ Well, most of the time we know and we’ve already addressed that.”
Swinney offered the example of Clemson coming out of spring practice with one open scholarship after two late transfers. The Tigers ultimately decided to stick with who they had on the roster and award the scholarship to walk-on offensive lineman Chapman Pendergrass heading into the 2024 season.
The No. 17 Tigers have been far from perfect this year, with their three losses coming against teams generally regarded as the best three they’ve played (No. 5 Georgia, Louisville and No. 14 South Carolina last weekend in a disappointing home finale).
But Clemson, by virtue of its 7-1 ACC record, will play No. 8 SMU in Saturday’s ACC championship game, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the 12-team College Football Playoff and a possible first-round bye.
STICKING TO WHO’S HERE
Swinney’s said numerous times he feels the Tigers have “matched up well” against top opponents this year, and that’s generally held true — not at every single position but more so across the board than did last year, when Clemson started 4-4 and struggled on offense.
Swinney said his program was intentional in taking a smaller class for those reasons. The 2025 class also took a hit in size and ranking because of a head-turning seven decommitments, including four from top 100 recruits and six since August.
“We didn’t have a lot of spots,” Swinney said. “We’re probably a couple spots too many right now. But we anticipate maybe a couple guys moving on. So gotta try to make it all work, and eventually it will.”
Clemson’s coach said he and his 10 assistants met for an hour on Wednesday morning to evaluate the current state of their roster and position groups, factoring in the 2025 signing class, and felt good about where they were.
One position where Swinney indicated Clemson might sign another player? Receiver. Excluding Stellato, who will transfer, the Tigers are currently down to eight scholarship receivers, including 2025 four-star signee Carleton “Juju” Preston.
Swinney didn’t specify whether it would be a portal or high school recruit.
“Depending on how things shake out, we might have to add one more somewhere down the road,” he said. “I don’t know. But we wanted to get one guy, and we love the guy we got.”
CLEMSON FOOTBALL 2025 RECRUITS
National rankings via 247Sports Composite
Quarterback
- 3-star QB Chris Denson, Plant City (Fla.), No. 853
- Running back
- 4-star RB Gideon Davidson, Liberty Christian (Va.), No. 53
- 4-star ATH Marquise Henderson, Belton-Honea Path (SC), No. 200
Wide receiver
- 3-star WR Juju Preston, Freedom (Va.), No. 533
- Tight end
- 3-star Logan Brooking, Savannah Christian (Ga.), No. 501
Offensive line
- 4-star OT Brayden Jacobs, Milton (Ga.), No. 184
- 3-star OT Easton Ware, Liberty Christian (Va.), No. 501
- 3-star OT Rowan Byrne, Iona Prep (NY), No. 571
- 3-star IOL Gavin Blanchard, Wiregrass Ranch (Fla.), No. 918
- 3-star OT Tucker Kattus, St. Xavier (Ohio), No. 1,213
Defensive line
- 4-star DL Amare Adams, South Florence (SC), No. 47
- 4-star edge rusher Ari Watford, Maury (Va.), No. 177
- 3-star DL Mahki Williams-Lee, Lakeside (Ga.), No. 788
Linebacker
- 4-star Logan Anderson, Fyffe (Ala.), No. 262
- Defensive back
- S Jakarrion Kenan, Marlboro County (SC), No. 533
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