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There was a lot of talk about it Dabo Swinney and his use of the transfer portal – or lack thereof – in recent years. Clemson Athletics Director Graham Neff recently held a press conference and was asked for his opinion on this matter.
Neff admitted to having spoken to Swinney about the transfer portal and roster management, but added that he had no problem with Swinney not using the portal often.
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“I couldn’t be more confident and supportive of Coach Swinney, the two-time national championship head coach, and how he has built his current program and where he is,” Graham Neff said. “Not to mention where his strategies and agility, quite frankly, are ahead.”
Clemson has signed a handful of players through the transfer portal in recent years, but none of them have the potential to be a starter.
Neff’s discussions with Swinney were about making sure he had the support he needed to build his roster the way he wanted, not about having to use the transfer portal more often.
“So, yes, we’re talking about it, but in a supportive way and with an understanding vision and strategy and how we can continue to adapt to a changing landscape,” Neff said. “That obviously means squad management, but that specifically means a lot of the things we’ve talked about.”
Neff doesn’t just talk to Swinney about the transfer portal, roster management, etc. It’s a topic he frequently discusses with each of his coaches in the athletic department.
“So this is definitely an active engagement from myself and the coach, but in a very supportive way, to educate him in particular, but also the other 15 of our head coaches, and show how they run their program and build their roster,” Graham Neff said.
Graham Neff comments on speculation about Clemson’s withdrawal from the ACC
In addition to Dabo Swinney and his squad management, Graham Neff covered numerous other topics during his media presence. One of them was Clemson’s future in the ACC.
Neff recently commented on speculation that the school may be leaving the ACC in the near future.
This comes as Clemson is currently engaged in a legal battle with the ACC. This has led to a lot of speculation about the future of the school’s athletic programs. At the same time, nothing is set in stone at this time.
“There’s been a lot written about it,” Graham Neff said. “All the speculation, right, I don’t know if I’ve read it all, but it’s part of my job to be very engaged with it. Sure, what’s being written is great, but more where a lot of the moving parts and conversations are happening at the national level. So that’s what we’re doing.”
Clemson, along with State of Floridais suing the ACC over the conference’s media contract. Specifically, the issue is the Grant of Rights, which binds schools to the media contract and makes it financially difficult for them to leave the conference.
“I’m not going to get into the legalities of this and just say that our legal team is going to continue to pursue the legal process, operate incredibly professionally, be great members of the conference that we’re in and be really well-read and connected nationally with all the moving parts. But those things continue to show up. It’s never been more active as far as the national landscape of all the moving parts of college sports. A lot of what I’ve talked about is not just about conference membership,” Neff said.
