By Kyle Golik
As Clemson stumbled to figure itself out following the departures of many stalwarts that helped make Clemson the second winningest program in the nation since 2011, some felt head coach Dabo Swinney was losing it.
“We built this program on NIL,” Swinney said in the midst of Early Signing Day in December 2022. “We really did. We built this program in God’s name, image, and likeness.”
As the transfer portal heats up, Clemson remained with the military academies (Army, Navy, Air Force) as the only schools that didn’t leverage the transfer portal.
Swinney had his thoughts on transfer portal athletes, first being guys leaving for playing time.
“The second type of guy that goes in the portal is he’s only going in the portal as a formality because the deal has already been done,” said Swinney. “He knows where he’s going before he ever goes in the portal. So we’re not getting that guy. 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.”
A war Swinney lost was his stance on paying players. Back in 2021, Swinney infamously said the following:
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“We try to teach our guys, use football to create the opportunities, take advantage of the platform and the brand and the marketing you have available to you. But as far as paying players, professionalizing college athletics, that’s where you lose me. I’ll go do something else, because there’s enough entitlement in this world as it is.”
When Clemson opened the Allen N. Reeves Clemson Athletics Branding Institute in March 2023, Swinney began singing a different tune.
“We’re going to call it The CAB because what does a cab do? It gives you a lift to your destination,” Swinney said. “But guess what, you’ve gotta pay the fare. We can’t do it for you. You’ve got to do the work. I’m really excited about it because it’s a living, breathing space where our guys know they can go for expertise.”
“If you’re injured, you go to the training room. If you want to get stronger, you go to the weight room. This was an opportunity for our guys to know that if they want help with branding and sponsorship and NIL and tax education and finances and all of these very real-world issues, you go to The CAB where we have a dedicated space with people ready to help them.”
As Swinney evolves in his stances, his scripture has meaning too. Swinney realizes these athletes for all intents and purposes are professional athletes at this point without much of the rigor professional athletes have to deal with. Swinney doesn’t want young athletes to lose focus on the core values that not only makes a young athlete successful in his program but in life.
Look no further to Clemson’s rival Florida State as a key example of what happens when you miss on the transfer portal and are heavily reliant on it.
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell, who was the toast of college football a season ago guiding the Seminoles to an undefeated season, is sitting at 1-5. The crux of Norvell’s issues is the quarterback play might be the most atrocious nationally as Florida State sits currently 131st nationally (out of 134 teams) in scoring offense at 14.8 points per game.
Ironically, a former Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was part of it prior to his hand injury that may end his 2024 season.
While Norvell was lauded for embracing the portal and having a mixture with traditional recruiting, his Seminoles might be lucky to win another game this year, Charleston Southern isn’t a gimme.
Clemson is currently on pace to return to the College Football Playoff this season and looking to extend the nation’s second-longest streak with nine or more wins to 14 seasons.
After the 34-3 drubbing by Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, the rumblings became strong that Swinney was out of touch, and really couldn’t mold an elite quarterback.
During Clemson’s five-game winning streak, the offense has put up 48.6 points per game and 541.2 yards in total offense. The resurgence has been led by junior quarterback Cade Klubnik.
Klubnik was a former five-star quarterback from Westlake (Austin, TX), the same high school that has produced Drew Brees, Sam Ehlinger, and Nick Foles, and has finally come into his own. Klubnik is currently fifth in the nation in touchdowns responsible for with 21 (17 pass; 4 rush) and in quarterback touchdown touchdown-to-interception ratio at 8.5:1.
The efficiency Klubnik has operated at since the Georgia game has been 177.1. Overall, Klubnik is fifth nationally in ESPN’s QBR at 88.4.
With Klubnik and the team that is buying into what Swinney believes, the schedule is extremely favorable for Clemson to make the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte. From there the sky’s the limit.
I feel sometimes we overlook why coaches do what they do, ultimately they want what is best for their athletes and their programs overall. Swinney evolves and I do feel Clemson will use the portal, but maybe Swinney’s scripture should matter to everyone because throughout it all, Clemson has not gone away and will remain a player nationally for the foreseeable future.
