Author: Paul Catalina
A couple of weeks ago, I did the embedded video about Dabo Swinney and the transfer portal where I discussed why he's using misguided logic to justify why he won't use transfer players. If you have 8 minutes, and look, you're surfing the web, you have 8 minutes otherwise you wouldn't be reading this blog, watch it. I'll wait.....
Ok. Now that you have taken in that information, I have a brief follow up. Just last week the man said this: "Every player is technically a transfer. We just signed a whole class of guys who transferred in from high school."
Now you're just being a jerk about it Dabo. This was a follow up to his assertion that every player on his roster was better than every player available in the portal.
While his 85 are probably better than most that are in there, all of the teams you lost to in the ACC last year used it to beat YOU. Duke, FSU, & Miami all broke long losing streaks to the Tigers. How did they do that? Strictly high school recruiting? No sir. At this point, he has decided to dig his heels in. And with the overall goal of being in the top 12 now more easily in sight than being in the top 4, he might just pull it off.
The problem is, it's a whole new world. A 9-3 record in the ACC will probably not get you 12th. It might get you 13-15. And with your recent history that might get you over the hump in certain years. But for the time being, while you are still in that league, the writing was put on the wall last year. The SEC & Big 10 are in charge. So if you want to get in on the party, you better be elite and using all the tools at your disposal to make sure you are at least in the Top 8.
There is no wiggle room for anyone not in the Super 2. And Dabo keeps painting the Tigers further into a corner to prove a point.