ACC winners and losers from the transfer portal’s winter window
With the winter transfer window behind us and just three games left in the College Football Playoff, the large majority of top transfer prospects have already entered the portal and committed to a new team. Winners during the transfer window have emerged but so have losers.
This week, we are taking a look at the winter transfer window winners and losers in each Power Four conference. Up first is the ACC.
WINNERS
Clemson has lost more players (five) than it has signed (three) but Dabo Swinney’s first dip in the transfer portal has gone well enough to consider the Tigers a winner at this point in the transfer cycle. Adding defensive end Will Heldt to the roster for next season was a huge win. The former Purdue Boilermaker is currently ranked as the No. 15 transfer prospect in this cycle.
Clemson is also adding former Alabama linebacker Jeremiah Alexander, a former five-star from the 2022 class, to the defensive front. The signing of wide receiver Tristan Smith made waves back in December. He was the first non-quarterback transfer Clemson has taken in the transfer portal era.
After a dismal 2024 campaign and a tough start to the winter transfer window, the Seminoles needed some big wins during this transfer cycle. Head coach Mike Norvell and company went to work and were able to land some huge additions.
First on the list is top-10 transfer prospect Duce Robinson from USC. The Seminole legacy has the tools to be an elite receiving threat, especially when he’s paired with former Tennessee receiver and four-star transfer prospect Squirrel White.
The Florida State offensive line is also getting a boost from four-stars Micah Pettus and Luke Petitbon along with three-stars Adrian Medley and Gunner Hansen.
Incoming quarterback Thomas Castellanos is reuniting in Tallahassee with new Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who was head coach at UCF when Castellanos signed with the Knights in the 2022 recruiting class.
Yes, the Yellow Jackets lost star receiver Eric Singleton Jr. but head coach Brent Key and company have added enough key players to end up a winner at the end of this transfer window. Georgia Tech has signed eight offensive transfers and seven on defense.
The Yellow Jackets addressed the defensive line in a big way, signing four-star Brayden Manley and three-stars Ronald Tripplette, A.J. Hoffler and Mathew Alexander. Linebacker Melvin Jordan is expected to be a key piece on defense as well.
Georgia Tech is hoping the sum of former FIU receivers Eric Rivers – a four-star transfer prospect – and Dean Patterson in addition to Debron Gatling from South Carolina can serve as a viable replacement for what it lost in Singleton. Penn running back transfer Malachi Hosley is coming off a season in which he won Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year and he’s playing for Georgia Tech next season.
The Hurricanes have done a good job retaining key players and they’ve added players at priority positions. Former LSU receiver CJ Daniels, a top-20 prospect in the transfer rankings, figures to be a focal point of Miami’s passing offense next season.
Head coach Mario Cristobal and his staff are also bringing in a trio of top-100 defenders in 6-foot-4, 303-pound David Blay, Charles Brantley and Ethan O’Connor. Highly regarded defensive back Zechariah Poyser joins Brantley and O’Connor in the secondary along with three-star Emmanuel Karnley from Arizona.
There is a lot to like about what SMU has done so far in the transfer portal. Its biggest priority was to improve in the trenches, which was an obvious weakness early in the playoff game against Penn State.
Head coach Rhett Lashlee and his staff are bringing in four-star Dashawn Warner from Kansas, Damarjhe Lewis from Purdue, Trey Wilson from Baylor and Eric Taylor from Mississippi State on the defensive line. Four-star offensive lineman Addison Nichols from Arkansas is a very solid addition up front and SMU landed experienced quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to back up starter Kevin Jennings.
LOSERS
The transfer portal has not been kind to NC State this year. Star receiver KC Concepcion has left for Texas A&M. The former four-star high school prospect had outperformed that rating and is currently ranked as the No. 9 prospect in this transfer cycle.
The Wolfpack have also seen important players such as Bishop Fitzgerald, Devan Boykin, Tamarcus Cooley and Brandon Cisse enter the transfer portal.
NC State did a good job retaining many key players but these were some tough losses.
In the era of the transfer portal, a change at head coach can leave a roster decimated even if a strong hire is made quickly. That’s what happened at Wake Forest when longtime head coach Dave Clawson resigned. Jake Dickert left Washington State two days later to be Wake Forest’s head coach but the Demon Deacons still lost four starting offensive linemen, including four-star transfer prospects Matt Gulbin and Luke Petitbon.
Wake Forest has signed Fa’alili Fa’amoe and four other offensive linemen to replace them but it will be an uphill climb to put together a cohesive offensive line this quickly. The Demon Deacons’ top three returning receivers – Horatio Fields, Deuce Alexander and Donavon Greene – have all transferred as well.
In all, the number of departures could eclipse 20 before the end of the transfer cycle.
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2025-01-09 07:33:19
