Clemson Tigers:
Dabo Swinney’s portal protest is one of the most interesting storylines in college football. There’s something to be said about believing in your program and in your coaching staff to recruit guys that fit the systems and breed success. On the other hand, college football free agency is not only widespread, but it is the norm and the Tigers are coming off of their worst season in quite some time.
Assistant coaches have leveled up on Dabo’s behalf and he seemed to throw OC Garrett Riley under the bus more than once last season. This is a good team, but will stubbornness and idealism keep them from being great?
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Offense
The defense has some production to replace, but the offense is mostly intact for Riley’s second season. QB Cade Klubnik hasn’t developed as anticipated, but the hope is that he’ll evolve this season. He had chances for signature drives and came up short more often than not, including two overtime losses, one to Florida State where the Tigers were the better team.
Klubnik only had 19 TD passes and the Tigers only had 20 as a team, but RB Phil Mafah is a nice returning piece after finishing 35 yards shy of 1,000. The receiver group is almost back in its entirety, but with five-star freshman Bryant Wesco Jr. in the mix. Klubnik has no shortage of weapons and Riley is a very highly-regarded offensive mind. Hopes would be higher for this group if Dabo had gotten an offensive lineman to transfer in.
Defense
The loss of Brent Venables hurt in 2022, as the Tigers finished outside the top 25 in yards per play allowed for the first time since 2012. Last year’s group got right back on track under Wes Goodwin, as the Tigers were ninth in YPP. Clemson also tied for the national lead in takeaways with 28 and allowed the fourth-fewest red-zone attempts with 29.
But, this is another area where the portal could’ve come in handy. Clemson had heavy losses to the NFL Draft and also the transfer arena. We’ll get a quick taste of the new-look Tigers defense against Georgia in the opener and see how much those absences could hurt as the season goes along.
Outlook
Clemson is still favored in 10 games in my spreadsheets, even though Dabo refuses to find external help for the roster. I guess he’s still doing something right with his recruiting pipeline and the university is able to use the NIL budget to keep kids around. Still, I have the Tigers for 8.9 wins and I think there’s a chance we definitively find out that Klubnik is not “a dude” this season.
Pick: Under 9.5 Wins
