Dabo Swinney Plans to ‘Evaluate’ Portal Between Now and End of May for OL

Dabo Swinney has been fairly open about wanting to add an offensive lineman to his roster via the transfer portal.

With Hunter Rayburn having stepped away from the game due to medical issues and Mason Trotter unavailable for the upcoming regular season, there is a need for a guy who can come in and play along the interior, specifically at center.

Prior to the spring, Will Putnam was moved over from guard to center and while Swinney has been happy with the progression, that doesn’t change anything. The head coach still wants to add another player, but at the same time, insists he won’t add a guy just to add one. It has to be the right fit.

“We’re not just going to take a guy to take a guy, it’s got to be right,” Swinney told the media after the spring game. “But we’re certainly going to evaluate that from now until the end of May.”

As for plans to add players at any other position, there are none. Unless, of course, there is some unexpected attrition, something that Swinney doesn’t foresee at this point in time.

“I mean unless I’ve got guys show up and tell them that they love me but they leaving me, unless we have that, I don’t anticipate that. But who knows,” Swinney said.

For now, the Tigers stay the course. However, this is college football and the portal is a popular choice among players who aren’t getting playing time as quickly as they’d like. But until something changes, the Tigers are still only in the market for one transfer offensive lineman.

“All things stay the same right now,” Swinney said. “That’s the only position that we would look at.”