Dabo Swinney remark gets LSU football coach Lane Kiffin's attention

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Dabo Swinney has the attention of the most online coach in college football.

LSU coach Lane Kiffin on Tuesday shared to his official X (formerly Twitter) account a comment Swinney made at his Monday press conference ahead of the Clemson Tigers' matchup against Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, set for Dec. 27 at noon ET on ABC.

The comments Kiffin shared (reposted) were ones Swinney made about the transfer portal — specifically, Swinney's reiteration that he refuses to "cut deals" with players before they enter the portal.

Swinney was responding to a question on the team's schedule after returning from New York following their bowl game:

"We'll get back late on the night of the 27th. The portal opens on (January 2). I mean, I know everybody's working all these deals. We don't do that. There'll be some of the best players out there, they'll go in the portal and 10 minutes later, 'I'm committed somewhere.' That ain't how we operate here. We're going to do it right. We're going to do it right, and we're not going to cut deals with people and all that stuff. I don't care what other people do."

Swinney added:

"We'll see who's in there. We'll get rolling that weekend. Everybody will have a couple of days to just kind of recalibrate, reset and refocus on what we've got to do. Obviously the new year and then we'll be right back in here that weekend and (there will) be a big staff meeting, and we'll move in the mid-years on the fourth. Then we've got that whole week of trying to — obviously, we've got to fill some spots on our roster and visits and all that, plus we'll be out on the road recruiting."

Swinney's comment was shared on X by The Post and Courier's Jon Blau and reposted by Kiffin.

Kiffin left Ole Miss as the Rebels were set to begin their CFP run to become LSU's new coach on Nov. 30. He was introduced at a press conference in Baton Rouge the following day, capping an end to one of the messiest splits in modern college football history — even for a coach whose career has become more or less defined by them.

Clemson is scheduled to open the 2026 season at Tiger Stadium in Kiffin's first game as LSU's coach.

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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Dabo Swinney comment catches the eye of LSU football coach Lane Kiffin

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