Swinney says "really bad" unintended consequences wreaking havoc in 2022 recruiting

Swinney says some reforms are needed in the current college football landscape.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Wed Dec 15 12:09:13 GMT-04:00 2021

This has been a different kind of recruiting cycle in the era of the transfer portal and Name/Image/Likeness benefits available to prospective college athletes.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says things have not changed for the better, however, particularly in this cycle.

"It's crazy. It's really sad to be honest with you," Swinney said on the school's broadcast Wednesday addressing the transfer portal effect this year. "I think there's over, I don't know, right around 2000 kids in the portal and most of them don't have anywhere to go. And there's so much tampering going on and so many adults manipulating young people, and it's sad, but it is what it is from that standpoint. You got a lot of young people. And there's a time and a place, but most of the kids are in there when they shouldn't be in there. So some of the lessons that we're teaching young people, I don't think it is going to benefit them well as they move through their life. But it is something that everybody has to manage and have to deal with.

"There's no consequences. There's no rules."

Swinney, who welcomed 12 signees Wednesday morning, has his own proposal for how it should work.

"I mean, I'm all for transferring. I personally think we should let them go anytime they want, wherever," Swinney said. "I just think you should have to sit a year and then you get that year back upon graduation. I think what we've done is we have (disincentivized) and devalued education, and I think that's the wrong approach because we're going to have a lot of young people that aren't going to graduate.

"Mental health is one of the biggest issues in college. And I think there's a lot of kids whose identity is wrapped up in football, and all this does is further that and then when they get to these other places and they all think the grass is greener and they realize that the mirror traveled with them, and it is the man in the mirror. I think a lot of kids are going to suffer. I think graduation rates are going to go down, graduation rates right now are an all-time high."

Swinney says some players are going to miss out on the network that can be built by sticking it out with a school.

"It'll be interesting to see where that is five years from now, ten years from now," Swinney said. "I think there's going to be a lot of kids that again, their whole identity is based on football, and they're going to go here, here and then when it's all said and done, they're not going to be connected to anything. They're not going to have that network. They're not going to have those relationships and they're not going to be truly equipped the way they need to be, in my opinion. And I think that is sad."

Swinney also indicated again that some schools are skirting the rules in the transfer process.

"It's total chaos right now. Again, tampering galore," Swinney said. "Kids being manipulated, grass is greener, all that stuff, as opposed to putting the work in again, there's a time and place for graduating. But my opinion -- because there's no consequences. So now you got agents and NIL and tampering and you have no consequences and no consequences equals no conscience. There's no reason for pause. There's no barrier at all for young people. Like nothing. And so that's not a good situation because there's no order.

"And to me, it flips everything up. Education is like the last thing now. And I think if you just let them all go anytime they want, no barriers, but you sit a year, that would create some pause and a little bit of a consequence. And it would eliminate a lot of this tampering that's going on, which is sad, but it would have some consequences. And then here's the deal, let them get acclimated, let them get adjusted, whatever. And then upon graduation, you can take your back, so you don't really lose anything.

"And if you are that elite, unique, great junior and you don't need that year anyway, it doesn't matter. But that keeps the main thing to me, that makes too much common sense. But it would eliminate a lot of issues. And again, keep the focus on graduation, because what we've created. The reality is 1.7% of these kids play in the NFL, and we are selling a bill of goods to everybody that they're all playing in the NFL. 98% are not playing in the NFL, period. They're not."

Swinney says some other schools may have a leg up on Clemson with how the rules are currently.

"As adults, what we should do is everything we can to incentivize and value education, and that's what I'm for," said Swinney. "That's what I've always been for. And hopefully we'll eventually land there. But right now, it's a lot of chaos. And as someone who's been a part of college football for a long time, it's sad, but it is what it is, and we'll certainly manage everything as good as anybody out there and will be effective. But not like some of these places are. And you're going to see a lot of these colleges quit signing high school kids.

"They're going to quit signing them. They're just going to sign transfers because the transfers are more invested than a high school kid. So I just think the intention was good, but the unintended consequences are really bad, and it'll probably be over the next couple of years. And eventually, I think there will be hopefully some order to the chaos."