Popular CFB analyst heaps praise on Clemson's Dabo Swinney amid criticism: "He deserves streets named after him"

The Clemson Tigers, under coach Dabo Swinney, are the only Power 4 football program not to bring in a single player via the transfer portal. The coach is notoriously anti-portal and has famously stuck to his guns on the matter despite facing criticism.

In an era where players can transfer programs without sitting out a season, many programs are wheeling-dealing in the transfer portal more than ever before to bolster their teams and add depth and experience, but not the Tigers.

Popular college football analyst Adam Gorney defended the Tigers coach on "Rivals," pointing to his 170-43 overall record and two national championship wins, as proof of his pedigree.

"He doesn't deserve grief and criticism. He deserves streets named after him," Gorney said.

Dabo Swinney on his transfer portal stance

Between 2015 and 2019, Dabo Swinney led the Clemson Tigers to a mighty 69-5 overall record and two national championships. His program, along with Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs and Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide, is one of the few to win more than one national championship since 2016.

In the three years since 2021, the Tigers have signed only two players from the transfer portal, contrasted with programs like Jim Harbaugh's all-conquering Michigan Wolverines, who won the national championship and signed nine players last year.

During an interview with the ACC Network, Swinney stuck to his guns about his transfer portal stance.

"Well, it wasn't really necessarily like an intentional thing," Swinney said. "There were a couple guys we looked at. They gotta love you, too. … And honestly, every player is technically a transfer.

"We just signed a whole class of guys transferring from high school, so we like our guys. We like our starters. We had 127 players go through spring, and 125 are still on our roster post-portal."

However, for Dabo Swinney and Clemson, there isn't a high turnover rate at the program as compared to the Colorado Buffaloes under coach Deion Sanders who lost upwards of 20 players in the spring portal.

Furthermore, programs like Michigan under coach Sherrone Moore and Alabama under Kalen DeBoer did not stand still and have fully utilized the portal.

The concern about the Tigers' lack of transfer portal activity stems from their worst season in 14 years, finishing 9-4 (4-4 ACC) last year, and their record in the past three years dropped to 30-10.

One of the coaches who will face the most scrutiny next season will be Dabo Swinney, with detractors ready to pounce on his lack of activity in the portal as a reason why the program is regressing.