Portal in action: Can Clemson’s largest-ever transfer class fuel a turnaround?
This week, 25 players hit the practice fields with Clemson football for the first time ever. Historically, that’s not a crazy number for Dabo Swinney’s program.
But in terms of composition, this recruiting class is in uncharted territory.
There are 15 true freshman early enrollees who were in high school just a few months ago, sure. But there are also 10 transfer portal players, whose presence is a nod toward Clemson’s problems last year and how Swinney is trying to fix them.
You could feel the change in the air Friday, during Clemson’s first media viewing period of 2026 spring practice.
There was former SMU running back Chris Johnson Jr., catching passes behind Gideon Davidson. Former Oklahoma defensive tackle Markus Strong, West Georgia defensive tackle Kourtney Kelly and Colorado defensive end London Merritt taking reps against a blocking dummy. Safeties Jerome Carter III (Old Dominion) and Corey Myrick (Southern Miss) looking the part in coverage drills.
Swinney said Clemson was simply sticking to its process when it added a record 11 transfers this offseason, that the Tigers had no choice but to lean into the portal heavy after graduating a number of NFL Draft picks on defense and suffering some decommits from blue-chip high school recruits.
But you can’t go 7-6 during a season when you were supposed to be a national championship contender and run it back as is. Clemson and Swinney dived into the portal like never before, and they’re seeing some early returns.
As in?
“A lot of competition,” Swinney said. “This is going to be a very competitive spring. We have very few guys that should have any type of sense of peace, if you will, of, ‘They’re the guy.’ So there’s going to be a ton of competition.”
“Nobody’s shying away from the fact there’s competition coming in,” defensive end Will Heldt —himself a 2025 Purdue transfer — said. “That’s part of it. … I think it’s gonna help foster some improvement. We’re excited about that.”
Competition exists, but transfers ramp it up
Of course, that’s always going to be the case. Clemson’s messaging, like that of any program, is that starters earn their starting job and players earn their playing time in practice every day. Competition could replace anybody.
But if you’re, say, redshirt junior defensive tackle Vic Burley, you’d imagine the presence of Strong (who played legit rotation snaps at SEC school and 2025 College Football Playoff qualifier Oklahoma last year) and Kelly (a big body who put up good stats at Division II West Georgia) lights a bit of a fire.
And that’s without reigning junior college All-American Andy Burburija, who joins Clemson from Iowa Western and won’t enroll until the summer.
The same goes for defensive ends Heldt, Jahiem Lawson and Darien Mayo, who’ll share reps with Merritt (a 2025 Pro Football Focus All-Freshman honoree at Colorado) and Wesley (5.0 sacks and two forced fumbles at FCS Howard).
Carter and Myrick — both productive players at Sun Belt schools in 2025 — are legitimate plug-and-play options at safety, and former Penn State defensive back Elliot Washington II had two interceptions on the opening day of spring practice and boasts some impressive PFF advanced metrics from his time in the Big Ten.
Those are the kinds of energy infusions you need after amassing your worst overall record since 2010 and first losing record at home since 1998, as Clemson did in 2025, in what was supposed to have been a resurgent year for Swinney’s program.
Mere presence of transfers is telling for program
Clemson’s 11 transfers this offseason were more than three times what the Tigers added last year (three) and double their entire transfer haul from 2018, the first year of the portal’s existence, to 2025 (five).
“It’s a great group of guys,” Swinney said of the transfers.
One could argue Clemson could have or should have done more in the portal. The Tigers notably didn’t add a quarterback, and they lost their top portal player (former Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli) to Ole Miss at the last minute in a tampering saga.
247Sports ranks Clemson’s transfer class No. 67 nationally and No. 15 among 17 ACC schools. On3 Sports is a bit higher on the Tigers, ranking the group 31st and seventh among ACC teams. Their true impact won’t be clear until September.
But Clemson’s first transfer-heavy spring practice is underway, and the fact those players are here at all is reflective of a program at a key transition point.
“There’s going to be a ton of competition … really at every position,” Swinney said. “Everybody’s gotta earn it every day. Everybody’s gotta prove it every day.”
2026 Clemson football transfers
- CB Elliot Washington II (Penn State)
- S Jerome Carter III (Old Dominion)
- CB Donovan Starr (Auburn)
- S Corey Myrick (Southern Miss)
- DT Kourtney Kelly (West Georgia)
- DT Markus Strong (Oklahoma)
- DE London Merritt (Colorado)
- DE CJ Wesley (Howard)
- RB Chris Johnson Jr. (SMU)
- DT Andy Burburija (Iowa Western)
- WR Jaylen Brown-Wallace (Wingate)
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Portal in action: Can Clemson’s largest-ever transfer class fuel a turnaround?."
