Dabo Swinney's delusional transfer portal takes are getting worse by the nanosecond

I'll have whatever he's having. The fact Dabo Swinney can go to sleep at night after spouting out whatever ridiculous nonsense that comes to his mind about the transfer portal has me tossing and turning. For a guy who listens to Jock Jams more religiously than Sunday sermons, is what he is saying even gospel at this point? We've heard all about God's name, image and likeness. Now this...

He went from saying "every player is technically a transfer" on College Sports on Sirius XM, to saying that most players who enter the portal are not good enough to play for Clemson. Give me a break!

“I mean, it’s really pretty simple. Most of the guys in the portal aren’t good enough to play for us. That’s just the reality of it. I mean, we have guys that are backups at Clemson that go in the portal because they just want to have an opportunity, and most of them are graduates, by the way. But we have guys that are backups. They want a chance to go play. I’ve got no problem with that. So rarely do we have a starter leave Clemson."

No, Swinney was not done saying whatever it is he wanted to say to Roddy Jones over the airwaves.

“So the majority of the guys, they’re guys that are in the portal because they wanna have a chance to go start somewhere. They’re not playing where they are. They’re not good enough to come in and play for us.”

Swinney then started rattling off and generalizing all college football players who enter the portal.

“The second type of guy that goes in the portal is he’s only going in the portal as a formality, because the deal’s already been done. He knows where he’s going before he ever goes in the portal. So we’re not getting that guy.”

I understand Swinney wants no part of its transactional nature, but college football a business, man.

“And then the third type of guy is going in the portal just to see what he can get. And we’re never going to win that war. So we’ve been really fortunate, because first of all, we’re established. Been there 16 years. And we don’t have a lot of attrition. I mean we had 127 guys go through spring ball and 125 are still on the roster after spring, post portal closing. That’s a miracle in today’s world.”

Here is the entire clip of what Swinney had to say on the three types of players who enter the portal.

All the while, Clemson has gone from making the College Football Playoff six straight years from 2015 to 2020, to missing out on the last three. There is no coincidence in this, only the transfer portal...

Dabo Swinney's delusional transfer portal thoughts define decadence

Let me make this perfectly. If Swinney hadn't won a pair of national titles in 2016 and 2018, Clemson would have moved on from him by now. I respect the job that he has done to be the greatest head coach in Clemson Tigers football history, but you have to get with the times or you're going to get lapped. Urban Meyer didn't want to do NIL, much like Roy Williams didn't want to do one-and-done.

All three men are top-30 coaches all time in college football, or in college basketball in Williams' case. However, the greats pivot, adapt and redefine the game in which they coach. Nick Saban embraced spread offenses, coaching rehabilitation, NIL and the transfer portal, and look at him now. He just retired as the undisputed best head coach in college football history. He is the blueprint for everyone.

This is one of the many reasons why we continue to make fun of Swinney. It is low-hanging fruit, really. How can everybody else be enjoying the benefits of the transfer portal and NIL and Swinney says we've got it all wrong? Not being on board with it ethically, I can understand that, but it is part of the profession now, and you have to get on board. You don't have to coach any more if you don't want to...

I view this inherent stubbornness akin to chain-smoking. Let's kill this great program as fast as we can! While Clemson can definitely win the ACC next year and make the expanded playoff, they cannot refuse dipping into the transfer portal if they were to join the SEC. Everybody does it, even Vanderbilt, the most pure thing in college football, and they suck! Overall, this behavior comes across as cultish.

Honestly, it's selfish, really. Swinney continues to conduct himself holier than thou when there is plenty of money to go around. As it is with Notre Dame, the right type of person has to go to Clemson. The only difference is Notre Dame is a private school with Catholic ties that is a national indepedent. Even they use the transfer portal. Why wouldn't Marcus Freeman want a player like Riley Leonard?

Ultimately, Clemson has a Dabo problem. He's going to keep doing him until he's dead. He is the youngest 70-year-old I have ever seen. The saddest part in all this is we expect better. We expect one of the greatest coaches in his profession to make the great sport of college football more accessible to everyone. He has made it a good ole boys club at little ole Clemson, one that we can never join.

Don't complain about having no teeth if you have never used a toothbrush in your entire life.