BREAKING: USC lands commitment from Vanderbilt transfer DL Nate Clifton
USC has landed their second transfer portal commitment of the offseason. Former Vanderbilt defensive lineman Nate Clifton announced his commitment to the Trojans Sunday afternoon.
Clifton spent the weekend in Los Angeles on an official visit, his first since entering the portal.
Clifton has spent all five years of his collegiate career at Vanderbilt and will have one year of eligibility remaining. He was named a team captain ahead of the 2023 season recording 93 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, and an interception throughout his career.
It was not long for USC to become the favorite for Clifton as he was one of the first targets for the Trojans new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn.
Lynn wasted no time trying to sell Clifton on playing in his defense. Clifton tells me Lynn named UCLA’s Laiatu Latu as a reference point of what development in his defense could look like. For those who do not know, Latu is expected to be a first round selection in the upcoming NFL Draft.
In our previous conversation, Clifton also told me, “I confidently will say I can play every position on the defensive line.”
At 280-pounds, he would be a true defensive end, not the outside backer, stand up edge type. You would likely seem him the most playing as a 3-tech or depending on the defensive front, a 5-tech. He will have his hand in the dirt.
I asked Clifton of Lynn’s pitch and what stood out the most. He says Lynn pitches his defense as an NFL scheme and something Lynn is confident will prepare players for the next level, which is something Clifton feels would be very valuable to him.
Transfer portal background information
The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.
The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.
Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.
The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.
