Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney went on a legendary rant earlier today. The HC called the current college football schedule “stupid” because it forces people to make huge life changes right in the middle of the playoffs. Despite all the public abhorrence Lane Kiffin received, Swinney believes he’s just a victim of the NCAA’s calendar.

On January 24th, the Clemson beat writer Chapel Fowlers hopped onto X and gave Dabo Swinney’s statement about Lane Kiffin’s leaving the program for LSU just 2 days after getting to their first-ever playoffs:

“Clemson coach Dabo Swinney: Coaches like Lane Kiffin are leaving playoff teams … and whether you agree or not, professionally, I understand. He’s trying to get ahead for his next job. He didn’t make the calendar.”

Dabo Swinney believes the NCAA’s current schedule is completely broken. And Kiffin was essentially forced to bail during the Rebels’ 2025 playoff run just to have a fair shot at recruiting and building a staff for his new job at LSU. According to Dabo, if a coach waits until the postseason is over to switch schools, they’ll miss the critical transfer portal and signing windows, basically setting their new program up for failure before they even start.

While fans might be mad on a personal level, “professionally” Dabo understands why Kiffin made the move. Instead, the blame should fall upon the NCAA for opening the transfer portal right in the middle of bowl season and playoff games.

Even though he defended Kiffin’s career move, Dabo didn’t go easy on the new guy at Ole Miss, Pete Golding. He accused Golding of “blatant tampering” with Clemson linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who had already signed his contract and was literally sitting in an 8 a.m. class when he allegedly got a text from the Ole Miss coach asking about his buyout.

Dabo was so fired up that he actually brought “receipts” to his press conference and reported the whole thing to the NCAA. Dabo compared the current transfer portal situation to a “Las Vegas wedding” where people meet at a bar and get married eight hours later. He thinks it’s crazy that players and coaches are making these massive decisions while games are still being played. To fix this, he’s proposing a “cooling-off period” where the transfer portal wouldn’t even open until late February or March.

Swinney is calling for some actual rules and consequences, saying that if this were the NFL, teams would be losing draft picks or getting hit with huge fines for tampering. He’s basically saying the adults in the room need to start holding each other accountable because the current system is just broken. Whether the NCAA actually does anything about it, we don’t need Dabo Swinney’s rant to see how baseless the NCAA has gotten.

Lane Kiffin’s grand year 1 at Baton Rouge

New LSU head coach Lane Kiffin has officially put the rest of college football on notice by securing the No. 1 transfer portal class for the 2026 season. Since taking over in Baton Rouge, he’s lived up to his “Portal King” reputation, bringing in over 40 new players to completely overhaul the roster. If you think it’s just numbers, you’d be dead wrong. The Baton Rouge program are the only team in portal history to land three five-star transfers in a single cycle. (Sam Leavitt, Jordan Seaton and Princewill Umanmielen)

The class is now has stacked with “blue-chip” talent, featuring 14 prospects rated as four or five stars. By landing these stars, Kiffin has basically checked every box on LSU’s wish list, specifically fixing the quarterback, offensive line, and pass-rushing depth in one go. Something he didn’t have the privilege at Ole Miss.

Of-course, LSU didn’t exactly play it cheap to get these results. The word is Lane Kiffin had $25-30 million in roster funds. Obviously, you make the type of investment and buy the players like Lane Kiffin. The expectations are inevitable. Some analysts now believe LSU has a roster good enough to compete for a national title immediately. It’s not difficult to see, considering Lane Kiffin’s portal history and how good he has been.

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