Dabo Swinney has firm response to idea of hiring someone to oversee roster

During his weekly Tuesday press conference with reporters, Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney made it clear where he stands on the prospect of an outside general manager to oversee players brought into the Tigers' program. In the "Gospel According to Dabo," it's never going to happen as long as he'

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During his weekly Tuesday press conference with reporters, Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney made it clear where he stands on the prospect of an outside general manager to oversee players brought into the Tigers' program.

In the "Gospel According to Dabo," it's never going to happen as long as he's at Clemson.

After a discussion about how much college football has changed in Swinney's 19th different season at Clemson, which coincides with his 250th career game as head coach Saturday against Georgia Tech, Swinney mentioned the idea of having a centralizing office to manage rosters.

But when asked about the idea of someone other than the head coach making the final roster decisions at Clemson, it was something Swinney unsurprisingly shot down.

"No, I'm going to make the roster decisions as the head coach. I mean, I don't make them all by myself, but we collectively, that's what we do. But no, we're not going to hire somebody to come in and say, 'This is your roster.'"

Swinney has repeatedly maintained that the way to build a program is through recruiting. The Tigers use the transfer portal more frequently than they did in the earliest years of the portal and NIL, but they still lag behind other programs. This past offseason, Clemson brought in 10 new players, the highest total in any cycle under Swinney.

Cornerback Elliot Washington II was one of those players. Washington is second in the nation in interceptions with five this season, including two in the Tigers' 36-24 win over Florida State on Oct. 31.

Fellow defensive backs Jerome Carter III, Corey Myrick and Donovan Starr were also added via the transfer portal, as was defensive end London Merritt, defensive tackle Kourtney Kelly and running back Chris Johnson Jr.

One position Clemson didn't commit to in the portal was at quarterback. Swinney and the Tigers chose to stay with third-year QB Christopher Vizzina and 19-year-old freshman Tait Reynolds, who made his seventh start in Clemson's 18-13 win at Syracuse in Week 10.

Swinney added Tuesday:

"You've got to recruit. You don't get to draft. You can't just draft them. You've got to recruit them, and I think who the head coach is, who's coaching, who's running meetings, who's the position coach, all that stuff matters in college football. You can't just pick who you want. Everybody's got money. You've got to recruit, so that part won't change."

Clemson already has a general manager. Jordan Sorrells was promoted to the position in 2024. Prior to that, Sorrells was Senior Director of Recruiting and Player Development at Clemson from 2022-23.

But the final say in the roster belongs to Swinney, something the winningest coach in Clemson history is refusing to budge on.

Full thoughts from Dabo on why concept of an external GM wouldn’t work in his opinion: “We’re not gonna hire somebody to come in and say, ‘This is your roster.’ … You can’t just pick who you want. Everybody’s got money. You’ve gotta recruit” https://t.co/oplQDuCYNF pic.twitter.com/NOsYyTvtof
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) November 10, 2026

Clemson football schedule 2026

Clemson (6-3, 4-2) faces Georgia Tech (2-7, 1-5) Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on The CW.

All times Eastern.

Sept. 5: at LSU Tigers (L, 51-10)
Sept. 12: vs. Georgia Southern Eagles (W, 22-7)
Sept. 19: vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (W, 28-20)
Sept. 25: at California Golden Bears (W, 24-10)
Oct. 3: vs. Miami Hurricanes (L, 41-13)
Oct. 17: vs. Charleston Southern Buccaneers (W, 37-0)
Oct. 24: vs. Virginia Tech Hokies (L, 20-16)
Oct. 31: at Florida State Seminoles (W, 36-24)
Nov. 7: at Syracuse Orange (W, 18-13)
Nov. 14: vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 12:30 p.m., The CW
Nov. 20: at Duke Blue Devils, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Nov. 28: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks, TBA

Record: 6-3, 4-2 ACC.

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📸 Rich Barnes, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect https://t.co/Y3EkYewnBZ pic.twitter.com/AzqfhMTxoM
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) November 10, 2026