By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
Wow! It’s hard to believe the college football season is already over. In case you are counting, you have less than seven months before the first game between Clemson and Georgia in Death Valley. Between now and then you will have some time to soak up what really transpired in 2012 and get a sneak peak at what the 2013 season might look like.
But why wait? Why not do both right now?
The 2012 season was one of those rare seasons that do not come around often. We all need to sit back and really think about how special this past year was and try to think back to the last time it happened.
In case you don’t know, here’s the answer.
The last two-loss season recorded by a Clemson team was in 1991. The last 11-win season was in 1981. That’s 21 and 31 years apart. Sure Clemson is one of the top 30 programs of all-time in college football history, but on the average Clemson has been an 8 to 9 wins per year football program. There is nothing wrong with that.
Now, Dabo Swinney isn’t satisfied with that and he wants to change that perception and make the program more like it was in the 1980s when Clemson had 12, 9, 9, 8, 10, 10, 10, 10 and 9-win seasons from 1981-’91.
From 1980-’89, Clemson was the fifth winning-est program in the country thanks to an 87-25-4 record, which included one national championship, six bowl victories and five ACC titles. During that span, Clemson beat teams like Georgia, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida State and Penn State to name a few.
So far Swinney appears to be headed in that direction. In his four years as the full-time head coach, he has guided Clemson to 9 wins in 2009, 10 wins in 2011 and 11 wins in 2012. That’s a pretty good start.
In four full seasons (not counting the seven games as interim head coach when he went 4-3) Swinney has directed Clemson to a 36-18 record, in which time it has won one ACC Championship, earned its first BCS Bowl berth and has won three ACC Atlantic Division titles.
In comparing his first four full years to Clemson coaches from the past, Swinney’s start is in pretty good company. In his four years at Clemson, John Heisman won .833 percent of his games. Danny Ford won .771 percent of his games in his first four seasons, while Josh Cody won .720 percent of his. Ken Hatfield won .706 percent, and Swinney falls right behind him with a .667 win percentage.
Swinney has said several times in the past that to be an elite program you must first have to show you can consistently win at a high level and when the opportunities come, you have to knock off the big boys – such as Auburn, Virginia Tech and LSU.
With another strong season in 2013, which one hopes will include wins over Georgia, Florida State and South Carolina, Clemson can prove it truly belongs in the conversation with the big boys, again.
And how can you not be excited for the 2013 season? Clemson has Georgia, Florida State and Georgia Tech at home where the Tigers have posted a 26-5 record under Dabo Swinney. South Carolina lies as their only hard road test, which is pretty hard by the way.
Quarterback Tajh Boyd is coming back for his senior season, while four starters and experience depth waits to protect him along the offensive line. The running backs will be a question mark with Andre Ellington gone, and Boyd will miss Nuk Hopkins and Brandon Ford, but All-American wideout Sammy Watkins is back as are young talented receivers in Charone Peake, Adam Humphries and Martavis Bryant.
On defense, the Tigers are loaded up front with talent. Young guys like Josh Watson, Grady Jarrett, DeShawn Williams, Carlos Watkins, D.J. Reader, Corey Crawford and Vic Beasley are all back, while the linebackers finally have depth as well with Spencer Shuey, Quandon Christian, Tony Steward, Stephone Anthony, Justin Parker and Oklahoma transfer Kellen Jones in the mix.
The secondary is a question mark. But nickel back Martin Jenkins will be back after suffering a season-ending injury in fall camp, while Travis Blanks moves back to his natural position at free safety. Clemson should also have the services of corner Bashaud Breeland back after he missed three games with a hip injury and Darius Robinson who missed the last six games with a foot injury. With those guys out, others like Garry Peters and Cortez Davis got some much needed playing experience and that should bode well for 2013.
Then there is Chandler Catanzaro, who has become as automatic in making field goals as an NFL kicker. In his junior year, the Greenville, S.C. native made 18 of 19 kicks, including 5-6 from 40 yards or more. His 37-yard field goal as time expired lifted Clemson to a 25-24 victory over then No. 7 LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
With all this talent and experience coming back, plus all the talent expected to sign as part of the 2013 class, this coming season could be even more special than 2012 was. Sure there are things—like beating South Carolina for instance—the program has to improve on, but you have to admit 2012 was a great year and 2013 could be a really special one if everything pans out like I think it will.