The portal fiasco going on.

Jan 16, 2024, 10:35 AM

I know some will disagree but this has been weighing on me and I haven't voiced my complete opinion.

If what's going on everywhere else was going on at Clemson, I think I'd be done with CF. What Dabo is doing, trying to do is the only sensible way to try and navigate this thing. How he's kept players here and good recruits coming in is nothing short of amazing. It's a testament to himself his staff, the players and recruits.

Every day I shake my head as I read about 5 superstar players from somewhere jumping ship from what looks to be a good situation for them. There is no way to build any team cohesion or develop players the way things are going. Look at pro teams from all sports that have made huge acquisitions and brought in tons of superstars to stack a roster. It doesn't work or at least very, yery rarely.

Coming out of HS kids think I'll go to this place, probably redshirt, maybe see the field a tad the next year, hopefully platoon or start year 3. The 5 star guys a little different. But they sign, redshirt, then the staff brings in 2 guys with a year 2 of eligibility. The young kid gets nothing his rs/fr year. Staff brings in one or two the next, now a sophomore the kid sees no playing time because they brought in a guy with 3 years experience. Jr year he gets some PT but coach was still trying to stack the roster. Why would any kid want to face that. The kid might be a stud say a top 20 kid at his position bu coach dug 2 guys out of the portal that had 2 years somewhere else and are draft ready. That kids development is going to be slowed. He won't get reps with the 1s and 2s for 3 years. Then he needs to enter the portal. But he's got nothing to show for the time he's been out if HS. If he does land somewhere he's going to have to claw for PT on a team with other guys clawing for the same spot. You think those guys are going to be cohesive?

Dabo is keeping what he has and using the normal progression of developing them. This formula has and will work. He will eventually take 1 or 2 here and there to plug a hole. But if his roster stays 95% intact the way it has Why bother with the greed and lunacy of the portal to grab someone that you've built no relationship with, is leaving somewhere else for a reason.

Clemson just like every other program has always had guys transfer out long before the portal ever existed. Usually it was guys that didn't make an impact but occasionally there was a good one or one that you thought would develop. Those numbers were usually around 7-9 a year. Couple that with graduates and guys leaving early and you mitigate that with your yearly recruiting class, and putting a walk on or two on scholarship. With what we've lost to the portal those numbers are not out of whack. They are nearly the same as every other year.

Junior college transfers have been a thing forever. Coaches have used JC players to plug holes. Some tried to use the JC ranks a little too much and it was unsustainable. Kansas State used to get a lot of JC guys and SC did for a while too. KSU nor SC have ever been the model for building and sustaining a program. Dabo didn't use the JC ranks and the portal isn't really that much different.

My prediction is the madness that's going on will implode. You're going to see in 2 years mass exodus from programs that have taken large numbers of transfers and stay that course. It's going to hurt their HS recruiting.

This is going to be used as a recruiting tactic. Dabo can walk into a players home, sit down with his family and genuinely talk to the player about his future. He can point to his record and say, we want YOU. We want to develop you and want you on the field. We're not looking to bring you in let you sit and bring in transfers to put in front of you. Some staffer can break down other schools rosters and say look these kids came in as 4s and 5s yet the coach brought in 3 guys and put them in front of them. Do you think these kids won't see that. This is going to have a serious impact on recruiting. May not be today but it will happen.

Dabo is doing the right thing. He is staying the course and he will succeed. I'd bet that any coach in the country would much rather have the stability of his roster management than the chaos they are all dealing with right now. The portal and NIL has created the perfect storm of madness!

Bonus thoughts on this crap.

NIL and scholarships
Put a cap on the financial gain before an athlete has to pay for his tuition and expenses. To avoid paying the athlete can elect to put money over the cap in a trust that they can only get after they leave colleigent athletics.

Using the NIL to beef up the roster with "extra" recruits that could skirt the 85 limit.

Use the "collective" to pay the tuition, books, etc for guys that you'd normally take on scholarship but could now allow them o be "walk ons" but 100% covered just like a scholarship player. With no limit on how many you can being in everyyear now you could fill your (109 man?) roster with scholarship worthy players.

I also wonder if there is a way, legally, that schools and recruits could enter into a true contract.

Message was edited by: clemson man7®

Message was edited by: clemson man7®

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One thing is for sure - Clemson will never be able to compete

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

We've had a lot transfer out

One part of your post is a bit dramatic.

I’m in agreement with most everything you’ve said and have expressed that in some previous responses though not in such detail. I am also of the opinion that Dabo is “doing it the right way” and for the reasons you indicate.

I do think a contractual agreement is legal and, more to the point, absolutely necessary and I think it would be fairly simple to do such a thing. The idea is simple: if athlete chooses to transfer to another school before the contractual term expires, athlete will reimburse the school the cost of its investment in that athlete up to that point. If NIL money is in play, that money goes back to the original school, otherwise it’s paid by the transfer school, similar to the contract buyout for coaches. Also similar, if the transfer school wants an athlete badly enough, they will pony up the buyout.

Schools know to the penny what they spend on their student athletes so that cost is readily available. And it would be transparent since they all figure it tha same way.

With NIL/TP currently, a school loses its entire investment in an athlete up to the point of transfer and no way of recouping that. It’s a dead cold loss .

Bottom line is: if student athletes want to play big boy games (e.g., NFL free agency) there should be big boy consequences.

A sliding scale for payouts might be part of the process, based strictly on time in the program. The point is the athlete should have to face some consequences for pulling up stakes and bolting to another program. Currently there are no disincentives.

The portal fiasco going on.

One thing is for sure - Clemson will never be able to compete

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

We've had a lot transfer out

Re: We've had a lot transfer out

it's not much of a fiasco for other programs

One part of your post is a bit dramatic.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

Re: The portal fiasco going on.

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