By: Colin Lacy

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

People have seen the Clemson Tigers coming back down to earth after their historic run with Head Coach Dabo Swinney the last few years. The Tigers have had at least three losses in each of the last three years.

Swinney has been extremely vocal about his opposition to the current state of college football with the transfer portal and NIL running rampant, but at the end of the day, Clemson keeps winning!

Last season, the Tigers began the 2023 season 4-4 with losses to Duke, Florida State, Miami, and NC State. It was at that point that Dabo Swinney said that if Clemson was a stock, you should buy big. Boy was he right.

The Tigers rattled off five straight victories including a victory over Kentucky in the Gator Bowl to finish 9-4. While that mark still is sub-par in Clemson, the impressive finish to 2023 cannot be overlooked.

Swinney, again, has been against the evolution of the transfer portal and had dug his heels in the sand with the lack of transfers that Clemson has brought in the last half-decade.

That being said, this year Clemson may not need a ton of new talent into South Carolina with the Tigers returning 14 starters from last year’s squad.

One of the most impactful returners for the Tigers is quarterback Cade Klubnik. Klubnik took the full reigns of the offense last year after three impressive games as a true freshman in 2022.

Last year, Klubnik threw for over 2,800 yards, but did make some critical mistakes in the first half of the season leading to the 4-4 start. That being said, Klubnik grew up in front of Tiger fans’ eyes taking control and led the team to the aforementioned five game season-ending winning streak.

The offense seems to be in a good place with Offensive Coordinator Garrett Riley and Klubnik both in year two as the “full-go” along with an upgraded receivers room and a heavily experienced offensive line.

The Tigers defense took a hit in the offseason with five NFL Draft picks and losing all four starting D-Linemen. Swinney and 3^rd year Defensive Coordinator Wes Goodwin dove deep into the recruiting trail to bring in pass rushers and return two Freshman All-Americans in TJ Parker and Peter Woods.

While last year’s 9-4 mark snapped the streak of 12 consecutive seasons of 10+ wins, folks around the Tiger program believe this could just be a bump in the road and the Tigers continue to help lead the ACC.

The Tigers have won the ACC in seven of the last nine seasons, and look to continue that trend in 2024, but it will be a tough road to do so.

Clemson will have to come out of the gate swinging with the 2024 season opener coming in Atlanta for the Chic-Fil-A Kickoff against the Georgia Bulldogs. In addition to the Bulldogs in a “neutral” site game, the Tigers track to an ACC Title is a tough one.

Clemson draws NC State, Florida State, Virginia Tech on their league schedule with the matchup against the Seminoles and Hokies coming on the road.

While the schedule isn’t necessarily in favor of Clemson, I think this is a year that is manageable for the Tigers to get back into prominence in the ACC, and into the expanded College Football Playoff.

And who knows, even if the Tigers don’t take home the ACC crown, maybe a first-round playoff game finds its way to Death Valley and Memorial Stadium.