Dabo Swinney Feels 'Like the Preacher at a Vegas Wedding Chapel' Signing Players in Transfer Portal

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney had quite the take on the proliferation of the transfer portal across college football.

"I feel like the preacher at a Vegas wedding chapel," he told reporters Tuesday when discussing signing players from the portal.

With thousands of players in the portal, there are more roster changes than ever across college football. What's more, there is just one portal ahead of the 2026 season with the removal of the spring window, so any player who was even thinking about perhaps making a move is facing far more urgency with the current system.

While high school recruiting is still important, the traditional path of roster building where prospects would choose one school, perhaps sit behind upperclassmen for a year or two as they develop, and then become key players for their team when they are upperclassmen themselves is starting to feel more antiquated.

Players now have far more chances to seek more playing time or even name, image and likeness opportunities, and it is another thing for coaches such as Swinney to juggle as they attempt to build and maintain relationships with prospects, their own teams and players in the portal.

Clemson Takes Down Louisville

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Swinney has faced criticism at times for hesitating to use the transfer portal at Clemson, especially as the Tigers have gone from a team that made four College Football Playoff national championships in five years from the 2015 through 2019 seasons to one that was 7-6 last season after losing a combined eight games in 2023 and 2024.

Clemson could be seen as a cautionary tale for other elite programs that may otherwise be hesitant to embrace the ever-changing world of roster management in the transfer portal era, although Swinney has seemingly altered his approach.

After all, the Tigers have already made a number of transfer portal additions this offseason and may not be done bolstering their lineup.

It may have Swinney feeling like a "preacher at a Vegas wedding chapel," but it may also be necessary to bounce back from last year's struggles.