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USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Dabo Swinney has Clemson football primed to soar in transfer portal era
Dabo Swinney has Clemson football primed to soar in transfer portal era Show Caption Hide Caption Clemson's Dabo Swinney talks about annual Orange and White Spring game The Clemson Tigers football annual Orange and White Spring game was held on April 5, 2025 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson Dabo Swinney's done it. Clemson's transfer-averse coach built a team that looks poised to thrive in this transfer-fueled era. Cade Klubnik gives Clemson a proven quarterback. Dabo Swinney thrives when he has his best quarterbacks. Clemson leads nation in returning production, according to an ESPN metric. Dabo's done it. The transfer-averse coach built a team that sure looks poised to thrive in this transfer-fueled era. Sportsbooks are snoozing on Clemson, but the stat nerds are wide awake. Dabo Swinney's Tigers have, on average, about a 14-to-1 betting chance of winning the national championship. Those odds trail seven other teams. Betting sharps probably noticed this nugget, though, from ESPN's analytics guru Bill Connelly: Clemson returns more production than any other team, according to Connelly's metrics. His analysis accounts for inbound transfers – not that Clemson features many. Clemson's veteran, talented roster reminds me a bit of Swinney's teams from a heyday when he won two national championships in three years behind proven quarterbacks, talented wide receivers and stingy defenses. While many of Swinney's peers play the transfer sweepstakes, he persists with a recruit, develop and retain methodology. 'I'm not against the portal, but … this is not a catch-and-release program,' Swinney said earlier this offseason on 'The Unafraid Show' podcast. 'This is not a place where we're going to run guys off. 'We know exactly what we're looking for. We're unique, and we're different in our approach." WHO DOES 16 HELP?: The teams that would benefit from playoff expansion MONEY MATTERS: In era of NIL, schools face challenge of where to spend A year ago, I thought Swinney erred by not supplementing Clemson's young roster with some transfers. Swinney could stand to be more active in cracking Clemson's door to high-impact transfers, but he deserves credit for keeping his top talent out of the portal. Clemson's best performers returned from last year's team that won the ACC after a rocky start. Now that Swinney is armed with a more seasoned roster, his adherence to the develop-and-retain approach seems poised to pay off, though we'll gain more data after Clemson hosts LSU in Week 1. Cade Klubnik headlines Clemson's returning production Connelly's returning production metrics prove useful in identifying teams poised to break out. Before the 2023 season, his metric ranked Florida State, Missouri and Michigan among the nation's returning production leaders. Michigan won the national championship. Florida State finished 13-1. Missouri, unranked in the preseason polls, won 11 games for the first time in nearly a decade. I don't need analytics, though, to tell me the value of a solid quarterback. Cade Klubnik fits that billing. There were times the past two seasons when Klubnik didn't look the part of a five-star recruit. His performance bottomed out in the 2024 season-opening loss to Georgia. He rebounded, and he peaked at the season's crescendo, starring in Clemson's ACC championship win against SMU and playing well in a playoff defeat to Texas. 'I'm kind of the epitome of the word development,' Klubnik told reporters earlier this offseason. Indeed. NFL draft experts project Klubnik to be among several Clemson first-round prospects for 2026. Goodness, Dabo Swinney even added transfers When Swinney has had a good quarterback, he wins big. He won a Peach Bowl and then an Orange Bowl with Tajh Boyd, Clemson's all-time passing leader. Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence produced national championships. It's unfair to compare Klubnik to either Watson or Lawrence, but Swinney's past peaks make it notable that he's got a good quarterback again, and weapons surround Klubnik. That, too, is a throwback to Swinney's pinnacle, when Clemson put defenses into conflict with receivers like Mike Williams, Hunter Renfrow, Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross. Clemson returns its top three receivers. Oh, and it added transfer Tristan Smith, who caught 76 passes for Southeast Missouri State in the Championship Subdivision last season. That's right, Swinney signed not one, not two, but three impact transfers. If Clemson vies for glory, you'll be force-fed the narrative that Swinney persevered after refusing to bend the knee to the portal. It's true he views the portal with caution, but it's also true he added three more transfers this offseason than he did the previous offseason. Those acquisitions help elevate Clemson's ceiling after it suffered four losses in consecutive seasons. A year ago, Clemson's wide receivers were young and unproven. Now, Smith joins a position filled with established targets, led by Antonio Williams and his 153 career receptions. As Swinney put it, Clemson touts 'six dudes' at wide receiver. Clemson's list of "dudes" – the industry's code word for NFL talent – also includes defensive linemen Peter Woods, T.J. Parker and transfer Will Heldt. You need multiple "dudes" to win a national championship. Clemson could do that. It's probably the only team from its conference that can. Oddsmakers and stat nerds agree on that much. No other ACC team ranks in oddsmakers' top 10 favorites to win the national championship. No other ACC team ranks in Connelly's top 15 for returning production. Clemson's downturn these past few seasons could be partially attributed to Swinney's stubbornness and his reluctance to evolve. If the Tigers ignite behind this talented roster, that will remind us of Swinney's best side – his ability to develop and retain talent at a level few coaches can. Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@ and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
USA Today
14-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Clemson's Dabo Swinney no longer avoiding college football transfer portal chaos
Clemson's Dabo Swinney no longer avoiding college football transfer portal chaos Show Caption Hide Caption Clemson's Dabo Swinney talks about annual Orange and White Spring game The Clemson Tigers football annual Orange and White Spring game was held on April 5, 2025 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — We begin with the obvious oddity: in five years of the transfer portal, Clemson has signed five players. Lane Kiffin signs five in one afternoon. So it should come as no surprise that when asked about his recent wave of portal signings – three in one offseason! – Clemson coach Dabo Swinney stayed true to a process that has delivered seven College Football Playoff appearances in the last 10 seasons. 'This is how we go about our business,' Swinney said, while attending the ACC spring meetings. 'We're just being who we are, and not apologizing for anything.' But make no mistake, Clemson finally jumped into the transfer portal this offseason. Even if it was in the shallows. When you go from signing two backup quarterbacks (neither was expected to play) early in the evolution of the portal, to declaring your locker room is your transfer portal, to signing three players this offseason after a first-round loss in the College Football Playoff, that's no coincidence. Or maybe it's just Clemson adjusting in a changing world it has no control over. Blue chip defensive end recruit Bryce Davis flipped his commitment to Duke last August, and backup defensive lineman A.J. Hoffler left for ACC rival Georgia Tech after the season. Then there's wideout Noble Johnson, who left for Arizona State. BEST OF BEST: Our ranking of college football's top 25 coaches RE-RANK: Texas leads college football NCAA 1-136 after spring All three were expected to contribute this season, and all three left significant questions. So Swinney signed his first non-quarterback (edge Will Heldt of Purdue), and the best Championship Subdivision wide receiver in the portal (Southeast Missouri State's Tristan Smith). He also added Alabama linebacker Jeremiah Alexander, who Clemson recruited hard in 2022, as a top backup. So just to recap (and before everyone gets sideways about Clemson's new change in philosophy): Swinney signed a backup linebacker, a No.3 or 4 receiver, and a starter on the edge in Heldt, who was one of the best defensive players in the Big Ten by the end of 2024. That, everyone, was Clemson's big splash in the portal. Its change of philosophy. 'We haven't changed anything,' Swinney said. 'We're still doing the same thing we've always done. Just following our purpose.' That's what's so unique about the portal moves that really weren't. They were tactical, and they were purposeful. They were fits. The danger in the portal era is in one-year mercenary signings, players who have a year of eligibility remaining or who know they're leaving for the NFL after the transfer year, and aren't invested in the team's philosophy or chemistry. They're interested in money, and moving on. The fallout, if you're not careful, erodes what coaches and players take years to build. There's a locker room dynamic that already is tenuous, with most players essentially on one-year deals. When mercenary signings arrive with big paydays, bad individual fits can soil a team-first locker room and generate a potentially combustable situation — and season. An ecosystem of young egos that already is fragile in the era of transfer portal and free player movement can flip with one player. 'They are really committed guys,' Swinney said of the three transfers. 'They love Clemson, love their teammates and are easy to coach.' UP AND DOWN: UCLA, Penn State among transfer portal winners and losers TROJAN HORSE: USC, Lincoln Riley crushing recruiting in bid for resurgence Don't tell Swinney he has changed his ways, don't tell him he has finally submitted to chaotic roster and team building in the portal era. That he has embraced the portal and all its flaws because there's no alternative. He's still the same driven and foundational secure wall he was as a walk-on wide receiver at Alabama in the early 1990s. Doesn't mean he can't or won't change, it just means he believes in a philosophy that has led to double-digit win seasons in 14 of the last 15 years — the only outlier a nine-win season in 2023. So yeah, he knows what he's doing, thank you. Like he knew he had to fire defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin, who coached with Swinney in some capacity over the last 13 years and most recently running the defense for the last three seasons. But when the defense couldn't get off the field, and left the Clemson offense with little wiggle room in big games, change had to happen. So Swinney hired Tom Allen away from Penn State to run his defense. Allen, of course, fits. He not only is one of the most respected teachers in the game, his unique family-driven personality was the nucleus of his LEO (Love Each Other) mantra at Indiana the foundation of one of the best Hoosiers teams in decades in 2020. He fits Clemson because Swinney isn't bringing someone into his world that doesn't, or may not. Just like the three players he signed from the transfer portal. They fit with a team that returns 16 starters, and a hot quarterback (Cade Klubnik), and a roster that felt what it was like to play in the CFP for the first time since 2020. Swinney says he isn't changing, but he sure isn't going to roll into a season with roster deficits from a process he can't control. Especially with a team with so much potential. 'We're lifelong learners,' Swinney said. 'If you show me somebody who's great at anything, I'll show you a lifelong learner.' Why would anyone apologize for that? Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
USA Today
01-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
ACC college football coach rankings: Dabo Swinney leads, Mike Norvell tumbles
ACC college football coach rankings: Dabo Swinney leads, Mike Norvell tumbles Show Caption Hide Caption Clemson's Dabo Swinney talks about annual Orange and White Spring game The Clemson Tigers football annual Orange and White Spring game was held on April 5, 2025 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson Dabo Swinney still runs the ACC, and a few coaches settle in neatly behind the Clemson coach to round out conference's top five. Bill Belichick once ruled the NFL, but he'll have to prove himself at North Carolina before climbing into top tier of list of ACC coaches. Florida State's Mike Norvell absorbs a hit on his stock, while Brent Key's stock is rising at Georgia Tech. Dabo Swinney still runs the ACC. He reclaimed his grip last season, and he's built another team poised to contend for a College Football Playoff berth. Only three active coaches have won a national championship. Swinney joins Georgia's Kirby Smart as the only active two-time winners. A few coaches settle in neatly behind Swinney to round out the ACC's top five, before the pecking order becomes murky – and open to much debate – in the Nos. 6 through 14 range. Here's how I rank ACC coaches, from No. 1 to No. 17: 1. Dabo Swinney (Clemson) Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' would be an appropriate soundtrack for Swinney's career. His sign, develop and retain method still gets results. Clemson won the ACC last season after not adding a single transfer. Clemson did add a few transfers this offseason, but if you're going to mostly kick it old school, do it with a coach who develops rosters as well as Swinney. At his peak, Swinney won 55 games and two national titles in a four-year span, behind great quarterbacks and wide receivers. He won't recreate that, but Clemson remains nationally relevant. 2. Jeff Brohm (Louisville) Brohm makes programs better. Western Kentucky, Purdue and now Louisville greatly improved under his guidance. He's produced eight winning seasons in 11 years, and that's a bigger compliment when you consider he coached Purdue for six seasons. His steady hand for offense translates from school to school and conference to conference. COACHES RANKINGS: SEC | Big Ten | Big 12 | ACC LOOKING AHEAD: Big Ten leads too-early Top 25 after spring 3. Rhett Lashlee (SMU) Lashlee smoothly transitioned SMU from the American Athletic to the ACC with the Mustangs qualifying for the College Football Playoff in their first season in a Power Four conference. Lashlee showed some steeliness when he benched Preston Stone, his incumbent quarterback, in favor of Kevin Jennings. That move propelled his offense. Lashlee last lost a regular-season conference game in 2022. That's a formula for annual playoff contention. 4. Mike Norvell (Florida State) Call a spade a spade: Florida State's 2024 campaign became a monstrous flop on the heels of Norvell's career-best season. His transfer-fueled formula went belly up, but one pitiful season should not entirely erase his track record. He's recruiting well and reloaded with a fresh batch of talented transfers. Tommy Castellanos from Boston College provides a quarterback upgrade after Norvell whiffed on DJ Uiagalelei. Norvell's roster overhaul positions him to clean up last year's mess. 5. Mario Cristobal (Miami) No ACC coach matches Cristobal's recruiting chops. He accelerated Miami's offense behind transfer Cam Ward, then replaced Ward with Carson Beck, another premier transfer quarterback. Cristobal's coaching is open to criticism, though. Oregon improved after replacing Cristobal with Dan Lanning. Miami assembled enough talent to win the ACC last season, but it squandered its chance with losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse. To be considered a top-tier coach, Cristobal must become more than an ace recruiter. 6. Brent Key (Georgia Tech) Key beat Cristobal in back-to-back seasons and took down Norvell last year, and his Yellow Jackets nearly toppled Georgia. He transformed the roster with significantly better recruiting hauls than Georgia Tech previously experienced. He's 14-12 through his first two full seasons. The returns are still early, but all signs indicate Key is the right hire to elevate this program. 7. Pat Narduzzi (Pittsburgh) Narduzzi isn't flashy, but he's consistent. Count on him to produce winning seasons with a defined floor and ceiling. He's a middle-of-the-pack recruiter who knows how to squeeze the fruit for its juice. Like a lot of veteran coaches, Narduzzi stated an opposition to the transfer portal, but he embraces the reality of it to address roster needs. The biggest concern with Narduzzi? His usually reliable defenses tailed off the past two years. That showed in the record. 8. Dave Doeren (North Carolina State) How did Doeren become the ACC's second-longest-tenured active coach behind Swinney? By avoiding disaster seasons. Much like the coach listed one spot ahead of him, Doeren is a force of consistency in the absence of excellence. He's delivered nine winning seasons in 12 years. The Wolfpack qualified for bowl games in 10 of the past 11 years. The typical Doeren season includes a win against rival North Carolina, followed by a loss in a bowl game. 9. Manny Diaz (Duke) Diaz enjoyed a fine run as a defensive coordinator at multiple stops. Is he a good head coach? Jury's still out. His Miami tenure didn't go particularly well, but he enjoyed a career-best season in his Duke debut. His 9-4 record built on the success of predecessor Mike Elko. Diaz's latest recruiting class ranked in the top one-third of the ACC and nipped at the heels of Swinney's haul, a good sign. 10. Bill Belichick (North Carolina) North Carolina made one of the most interesting hires in college football history when it tapped a coach with six Super Bowl titles to elevate a program that enjoys enough advantages to take a step up the food chain. We know Belichick, 73, can coach. Can he thrive in modern college football? That's anyone's guess. Running a college program differs from coaching pro ball. If you're monitoring early indicators, UNC amassed a nice batch of transfers. 11. Fran Brown (Syracuse) Anyone who's a millennial or older remembers Syracuse being relevant. Well, how's this for a throwback? Brown won 10 games in his debut season – just four years after Syracuse lost 10 games. Now, can Syracuse maintain success after the exit of one-year-rental quarterback Kyle McCord? Let's tap the brakes on Brown rekindling the Paul Pasqualoni glory days until we see evidence of Brown elevating Syracuse's recruiting. 12. Bill O'Brien (Boston College) O'Brien steered the offense for both Belichick and Nick Saban, two all-time greats, but the most impressive line on his résumé occurred when he took Penn State's reins after the Jerry Sandusky scandal and won 15 games in two seasons, bringing stability to a program in the midst of turmoil and debilitating NCAA sanctions. O'Brien's 7-6 debut at Boston College offered more evidence of a reliable floor, but there also aren't signs of a high ceiling. 13. Jake Dickert (Wake Forest) Dickert went 23-20 in 3½ seasons coaching Washington State. That's not bad and better when you consider he took over amid strange circumstances, after Washington State fired Nick Rolovich in the middle of the 2021 season for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. Clearly, he's not averse to challenging circumstances or a tough job. Good, because Wake Forest is a tough job. Will he succeed in the ACC? There's no telling yet. 14. Justin Wilcox (California) The best way to describe the Wilcox era? It is what it is. And what it is, is predictable. Toss out the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and he's won somewhere between four and eight games in his other seven seasons with four bowl appearances. His last winning record came in 2019. He's been better than predecessor Sonny Dykes, but not as good as Jeff Tedford. Cal riding it out with Wilcox suggests it doesn't think it can do better than him. Maybe, it can't. 15. Brent Pry (Virginia Tech) Oh, for the Frank Beamer days. Heck, the Justin Fuente days look OK compared to this. As the Hokies spin their tires with Pry, they must ask themselves what they think their program can be. Previous coaches showed it can be more than this – with this being a fight to finish above .500. Pry is 1-12 in one-possession games after three seasons. That suggests ineffective coaching. 16. Tony Elliott (Virginia) Elliott's tenure shows no indications of progress, a bad sign for a coach entering his fourth season. Virginia lost six of its final seven games last season, cranking up the hot-seat thermostat. Despite Elliott's background as a successful offensive coordinator, his teams consistently struggle to score. Elliott assembled a big batch of transfers for a final swing at this. 17. Frank Reich (Stanford) Reich, 63, had never coached in college before Stanford hired him as interim coach in April to a one-year deal. He'll pair with general manager Andrew Luck, who's also working in a new capacity. Reich enjoys a low bar, at least, inheriting a program that finished 3-9 for four consecutive seasons. The Colts fired Reich in 2022. The Panthers fired him in 2023 after he started 1-10. Frank succeeding at Stanford would come against the odds. Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@ Follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
