Welcome to Glass Slipper! Jalen Brunson turned down $113 million to make sure he gets to play basketball with his boys for a long time. That’s true friendship; please enjoy the show.

- Jacob Rhee

On August 31, Georgia and Clemson will clash in Mercedes-Benz Stadium to open their respective seasons. Questions regarding Dabo Swinney’s job security are going to swirl after the Dawgs run his team out of Atlanta that afternoon. Don’t blame me for broaching the subject a few weeks early.

It is incredibly fitting that Swinney’s downfall would stem from his own trademark stubbornness. If you’re unfamiliar, the 54-year-old - outside of the rare exception - does not add players from the transfer portal. That principle is destroying Clemson’s program. Even Swinney can see it, no matter how many I’m-actually-way-smarter-than-you quotes he wants to sling at the media.

Let’s follow Dabo’s logic for a second. Apparently, everyone who arrives at Clemson from a different place should be considered a transfer. Isn’t Swinney the same guy that snatched Garrett Riley away from his job at TCU a year ago? Why is he fine with reaching into another building to grab an offensive coordinator, but not a new slot corner? Is Dabo himself a transfer because he started his coaching career at Alabama? In that case, why hasn’t he angrily chased himself off campus yet? No transfers allowed, right?

Swinney’s policy is supposedly born out of a respect towards the players that he originally recruited to the Tigers. I’m focused on my guys, and that’s it. If that is indeed his reasoning, it’s actually a pretty cool and noble practice. There aren’t many better ways of expressing belief in your athletes.

The only problem is that Clemson’s longtime head coach is simply not likable enough for his players to reciprocate that loyalty. 35 kids have bolted over the past three years, and the reverberations of those departures are highly evident.

The Tigers hired Graham Neff as their new athletic director in December of 2021. He’s only witnessed the events on the right-hand side of that table. Swinney has drastically raised the expectations for Clemson football throughout his tenure, and he’s about to fall victim to them. Those fans expect national championships now; receiving a Cheez-It bath to finish the year is not good enough.

As an Ohio State guy, I would love to claim that Justin Fields’ infamous 2021 New Year’s Day Sugar Bowl massacre was responsible for Clemson’s sudden fall from grace. In reality, it was the COVID-induced nationwide transfer portal explosion - and Swinney’s failure to take advantage of it - that has inflicted the most damage on the program. Clemson is literally the only team in America that is allowed to take transfers, but refuses to do so.

Dabo is now left with two choices. He can either swallow his pride and start using the portal, or just wait for Neff to tell him that his services are no longer required. The seat is warming, and the Dawgs are approaching.

Pressroom

Spin It

“Hypotheticals” by Lake Street Dive. I randomly discovered this song a couple years ago, and I couldn’t believe how good it was. Enjoy.