Clemson's Rumph says the Tigers don't need the portal like other schools

Rumph was asked what makes Clemson different from other schools, and he pointed out recruiting.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Aug 5, 2024, 5:06 PM

CLEMSON – Clemson is different from other schools in how it recruits high school students and how it recruits the transfer portal. Some schools take the machine gun approach, while the Tigers take the sniper approach.

In July, defensive ends coach Chris Rumph was asked about Clemson’s recruiting process – the Tigers typically don’t extend a lot of offers and sent out just 71 for the 2024 recruiting cycle. Another 71 have gone out in 2025 as the coaches close in on another class.

For comparison, arch-rival South Carolina has extended well over 200 offers and sent out offers to quarterbacks (7), running backs (19), and wide receivers (41) for the 2025 class combined which stand just a shade less (71-67) than Clemson’s total offer list.

Rumph was asked what makes Clemson different from other schools, and he pointed out recruiting.

“We really pride ourself in who we offer. You go look at some of these other schools, they have 400 offers out there,” Rumph said. “How can you recruit 400 kids? How can you recruit 200 kids? So a lot of those guys, they're doing things, and they’re going out, and they’re running over here, and they’re running over there, and there is no substance to it. They're going all over the country trying to recruit, but we are like a sniper. We take one shot.”

Rumph said the Tigers aren’t the victims of extreme turnover like other schools despite the tampering that appears rampant in the sport, especially in today’s NIL world.

“We're intentional about who we bring in here, and our guys, they don't leave. I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that our guys are getting tampered with, and guys are offering them money, and we would be fools if we think that they're not,” Rumph said. “But our guys are staying, they are happy and so we don't really have to go into the portal. We feel good about our depth in how we recruited and how we develop our guys and we feel strong about it. If there's a need and all of a sudden we have four or five defensive ends leave and we need to go into portal, then we'll go in portal for that. But right now, our retention rate is high, and we're happy.”

Freshman defensive end Adam Kissayi bolted following spring practice, but Rumph didn’t consider dipping into the transfer portal for a replacement.

“Coach Swinney asked me if I wanted to go in the portal and get anybody,” Rumph said. “I was happy with the depth and the people that we have on the team right now. So, when he decided to leave, for whatever the reason, I wish him much success, but we have to keep moving.”