Clemson's Dabo Swinney Sounds Off on Transfer Portal: 'The Problem Is Tampering'

The transfer portal has been one of the primary focuses of the college football world since the end of the regular season, and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is concerned with one issue in particular.

"The problem is tampering," he said during a Gator Bowl press conference with Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops, per David Hale of ESPN. "And we could fix it easily if they'd let football people fix it. But they usually don't listen to us."

Hale noted Clemson has eight players in the portal, while Kentucky has 13.

Both coaches pointed to specific position groups that will be quite thin for the Dec. 29 game, while Swinney joked he may have to suit up at defensive back. Safety Andrew Mukuba and cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. are in the portal, while cornerback Nate Wiggins might not play so he can prepare for the NFL draft.

This is the third straight season Clemson missed the College Football Playoff after making it the previous six years.

Swinney has been criticized at times for his reluctance to embrace the portal as his program took something of a step back the past three seasons. Yet Hale pointed out he said he will likely be more active this offseason.

"It's a two-way street," Swinney said. "You can like people all you want but they have to like you too.

"We will fill our roster when it's all said and done. We don't have a lot of spots open. We really like the guys coming in in our recruiting class. Potentially a couple of spots we have to fill so we'll see how it goes."

The 30-day winter transfer portal will be open until Jan. 2, 2024, and there were already more than 2,000 players in the portal as of Thursday.

A number of those players were high-profile ones, including Texas A&M defensive lineman Walter Nolen, Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward, Duke quarterback Riley Leonard and Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord.

It is the new reality of college football, and coaches and programs will have to adjust their approaches as they attempt to navigate it.

But Swinney believes those approaches should not include active tampering with players already on other rosters, especially outside the official portal windows.