Dabo Swinney was on top of the college football world not that long ago. He won two National Championships in 2016 and 2018 and had Clemson looking like the next Alabama.
But then the Transfer Portal and NIL era began and Clemson quickly fell off. Swinney made it abundantly clear that he isn't a fan of either, and that is arguably the biggest reason why Clemson isn't the same Clemson that they were years ago.
Swinney recently announced that they are going with Christopher Vizzina as their starting quarterback this fall. Some Clemson fans however wish he went to the Transfer Portal to get someone better because they don't trust Vizzina, and Swinney fired back defending his player. But instead of saying that he made this decision because he trusts his quarterback, he said that he was afraid of the backlash he would get if a transfer quarterback didn't work out.
That isn't the best look at all and this is the type of coach Kirby Smart needs to avoid becoming.
Clemson's Dabo Swinney on going with returning QB Christopher Vizzina: "We weren't going to go get a shiny object (transfer) at quarterback. If it doesn't work out, we're going to be raked over the coals."
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 16, 2026
Kirby Smart should want to be nothing like Dabo Swinney
Georgia football looked a lot like Clemson from the mid-2010s. The Tigers were dominating the ACC and taking down Alabama en route to multiple National Championships, and that's exactly what Georgia did in the early 2020s and has done the last few years (minus winning another national title).
Clemson however is not a true national power anymore like they once were, Georgia however still is. Smart however needs to learn from Swinney's mistakes so Georgia doesn't become the next Clemson.
Smart is hesitant to buy recruits with NIL money just like Swinney, and they both don't use the Transfer Portal to build their entire roster either. Swinney however sounds like he's completely against the idea of adding transfers and immediately turning them into starters, and that's what Smart needs to avoid at all costs.
Kirby Smart's recent history with Georgia's transfers proves he is nothing like Dabo Swinney
Smart has made it clear that he won't build his entire team out of the Transfer Portal. That is fine as long as Georgia keeps recruiting at a high level at the high school level, but either way he can't be afraid to use the portal and immediately play transfers when Georgia has no choice.
Thankfully just last year Smart added Zachariah Branch out of the portal who immediately became Georgia's best wide receiver. Swinney sounds like he wouldn't want a transfer to completely take over a position, but Smart was more than happy to let Branch feast the moment he stepped foot on campus. So much so that Branch set Georgia's single season receptions record last year.
Georgia doesn't need to be a team that leads the Transfer Portal rankings every year. They do however need to add transfers at the positions that clearly need some help and Smart needs to not be afraid to let those players blossom the second they arrive on campus.
So far that hasn't been a problem, but Smart needs to use Swinney as an example of what not to do because he was once on top of the college football world like Smart is now, but he is nowhere near the level of coach that he once was.
Add us as a preferred source on Google