FSU football: Dabo Swinney says transfer portal players not good enough for Clemson?

I thank God Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is a stubborn guy who likes to live in the past. Swinney had Clemson at the top of the college football world about 7-8 years ago. Clemson competed for national titles four times (2-2) between 2016-19, winning national titles in 2016 and 2018. Dabo Swinney consistently hit on top-tier quarterbacks, receivers, and defensive linemen from the high school ranks. However, the hit rate on those positions with top players from high school has waned in recent years. Clemson has felt that effect, losing three or more games every year since the 2021 season.

Clemson ran roughshod over the ACC when competing for national titles and destroyed FSU in 2018 and 2019. However, the transfer portal era began in 2021, and things changed between the two schools. FSU started closing the gap, taking more transfer portal players, while Clemson relied solely on high school recruiting. Clemson barely defeated FSU in 2021 and 2022 and suffered their first defeat against the Noles since the 2014 season in 2023. Ironically, FSU had 10 players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, while Clemson only had six. FSU had that many selected in the top 100, which made his recent statements on the transfer portal interesting:

Eighty percent of the FSU players drafted came to FSU via the transfer portal. It's the prime reason FSU had more players selected than Clemson, so Dabo Swinney's statement is asinine. Not only does FSU get some of the best players from the portal, but they do a great job developing those players. Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Johnny Wilson, and the list goes on. Dabo Swinney can stay stuck in his ways all he wants, but this almost guarantees he will not get any quality players from the portal if he decides to switch stances. It's not like Clemson recruits at the same level they did when competing for national titles. Clemson hasn't had a top-10 recruiting class since the 2022 recruiting cycle and has only produced 12 NFL Draft picks over the past two years. FSU football fans appreciate you Dabo and keep watching the parade go by and the gap between the two programs increasing every year from now on.