Has the Transfer Portal surged Florida State ahead of Clemson?

ESPN's Courtney Cronin believes the differences in approach from Dabo Swinney and Mike Norvell has pushed the Seminoles ahead of the Tigers.

The hottest topic - on the field at least - in the ACC heading into this fall is the race between Florida State and Clemson. The Tigers are the preeminent team in the conference, winning seven out of the eight previous ACC titles, but Florida State is coming off of its best season in a decade and has a host of talented players returning. 

Adding to the intrigue is the approach of both teams. Clemson is established under Dabo Swinney, winning two College Football Playoff national titles and the aforementioned conference championships. They go about their business in their own way, recruiting players and keeping them to develop. Florida State, on the other hand, has used the Transfer Portal extensively to add depth and talent to its roster.

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Appearing on ESPN's First Take, football analyst Courtney Cronin stated that she believes that the difference in approach has brought Clemson back to the pack and Florida State into a position to compete. 

"Clemson is a terrific football team," began Cronin. "The legacy, what they've established under Dabo Swinney, is noted but they've lost momentum, they've lost steam since the last time they were in the CFP in 2020. They lost Tony Elliott as their offensive coordinator and they really haven't been able to get back to that level of prominence."

"I agree on the defense here," continued Cronin. "That's the strength and what they do up front, but this is still a defense that gave up an average of five yards per play last season. Let's see them get back to the level of that generational defense that they had and they lost 10 players to the transfer portal."

While Clemson did lose a good amount of players to the portal, none of them outside of linebacker TJ Dudley were expected to start. And while losing Dudley did hurt from an on-the-field perspective, what he was reportedly doing in the locker room left no other choice for the staff than to dismiss him as they did. 

Cronin then got to the crux of the argument: While Clemson has stood pat with their roster for the most part, Florida State has picked up multiple contributors through the Transfer Portal, and Cronin believes that has spurred them past the Tigers.

"I think my biggest issue in all of this is that Dabo Swinney does not like to use the Transfer Portal and he likes to do things his way. I think that some players on the team value the loyalty aspect and all of that and whatever you want to make of that is fine, but that has helped Florida State close the gap in the ACC to where preseason ACC favorites you're gonna find more people saying Florida State than you are Clemson."

"My money is on Florida State in all of this. I would like to see Clemson get back to the level of where we were talking about them in that same category as the Georgia's and Alabama's but they've been on a downward slide now for the last three years in the ACC and Florida State has taken advantage of that."

Clemson and Florida State will meet in week 4 in what is promising to be the most-hyped-up edition of this rivalry in recent years.