Clemson Tigers Head Coach Dabo Swinney Not Worried About Small Recruiting Class

Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney isn't worried about his 2025 recruiting class

Dec 7, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney celebrates on the podium after winning the 2024 ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers are getting set for the first round of the College Football Playoff against the Texas Longhorns, but this is also a busy time with recruiting and the transfer portal. 

It is a very exciting time for the Tigers. Next week, they will be playing in a road playoff game against the Longhorns in Texas. This will be the first weekend of the expanded CFP, and Clemson will be hoping to play upset. 

The Tigers come into the matchup ranked as the lowest seed at 12, with the Longhorns being ranked 5th. The winner of this game would be facing the Arizona State Sun Devils in the next round, as they were the No. 4 seed and got the automatic bye. 

While head coach Dabo Swinney will be focused on trying to win the game against Texas, he recently spoke about his recruiting class and if he had any worries or concerns about it. 

“I always say it’s a blessing when a guy chooses us, I pray about it,” Swinney said on Signing Day to Jason Priester of the Clemson Insider. “That’s why I don’t worry about guys that we don’t get. And that’s how I look at it. It’s a blessing when a family and a kid says, you know what? That’s where I want to be. Because the type of kids we recruit, they have lots and lots of choices. So, when a young man says, ‘Hey, that’s where I want to be’ it’s just a big, big deal.”

Despite it being a small class and one of the lowest ranked for Swinney during his tenure as the head coach, he doesn’t seem overly worried about it. His mindset of kids who choose Clemson wanting to be there is a very good one, and likely one of the reasons for the success of the program. 

However, a small recruiting class leaves little margin for error if some of those players struggle to make the transition from high school to college football. 

The recruiting process the past couple of years has certainly been challenging with Covid and the NIL, but the Tigers have been navigating it the best they can. This is a program that has a lot of talent and will be playing on a national stage next week with the hopes of advancing in the CFP. 

Despite the small recruiting class, Clemson and Swinney are good at getting the most out of their players and the program should still be fine long-term.