Clemson may be preparing for another game this week. But with an important date on the recruiting calendar looming, Dabo Swinney has to think about next year, too.

The first of two transfer portal windows is set to open Monday. That’s when fall-sport athletes, including football players, who intend to transfer can begin officially entering their name in the portal for a period of 45 days. Once that window closes, any football players who have not entered the portal will have to wait until the conclusion of the spring beginning May 1 to submit their name if they choose at that point.

It figures to make for an frenetic revolving door of players leaving one program and joining another over the next month and a half, though Swinney has been hesitant to bring in transfers that he doesn’t believe are going to be immediate-impact players at positions of critical need.

Asked Tuesday if he feels like there are any positions he feels like he needs to dip into the portal to address for next season, Swinney was more guarded with his response.

“Who knows? We’ll see what happens,” Clemson’s veteran coach said. “We’re no different than anybody else. Everybody’s susceptible to transition. As I sit here right now, I don’t know.”

Since the spring of 2021, when the NCAA adopted new legislation allowing athletes to transfer from one four-year school to another without having to sit out a year, Clemson has brought in just two transfers. One was former Clemson and Northwestern quarterback Hunter Johnson, who hasn’t played in his return to the program as a depth piece behind D.J. Uiagelei and freshman Cade Klubnik. The other was a walk-on linebacker, Jesiah Carlton.

Clemson went after a center in the portal last year after losing three of them (Matt Bockhorst, Hunter Rayburn, Mason Trotter). After missing on a couple of its top targets, the Tigers decided to move Will Putnam over from guard. Putnam has started every game there this season.

But Clemson could be losing more frontline talent off this year’s team, including senior defensive linemen K.J. Henry, Tyler Davis and Xavier Thomas, some of whom still have a COVID year should they choose to use it to return next season. Meanwhile, juniors Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy are widely projected to be high-round picks in next year’s NFL Draft.

Uiagalelei, who’s spent two of his three seasons in the program as the starting quarterback, said recently he’s unsure of what his future plans hold. Senior center Will Putnam, who also has another year of eligibility, said he’ll be back next season, but plenty of other players still have decisions to make regarding their futures, which could include entering the portal themselves.

That uncertainty is part of the reason why Swinney is unsure how he will approach the portal this time around.

“We love our (incoming) signing class, and we think we’ve addressed our needs based on what we know right now,” Swinney said. “But, again, who knows what’s coming down the pike? Nobody knows that. I’d say it’s a real-time world every single day with where we are right now in college football.”

The task at hand for Swinney and his team is preparing for this week’s ACC championship game. Clemson will take on North Carolina in Charlotte on Saturday.

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