Granted, Clemson lost some talented pieces and leadership from a team went 14-1 and lost in the national championship game of the College Football Playoff. However, that isn’t discouraging Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney about the prospects of the 2020 season.
“The good news is this is one of the youngest teams I’ve ever had,” he said. “We’ve got 80 freshmen and sophomores out of our 120. I think we’ve got a chance to be a better team next year. I really do.”
On offense, the Tigers lost four starters on the offensive line—left guard John Simpson, center Sean Pollard, right guard Gage Cervenka and right tackle Tremayne Anchrum—as well as junior wide receiver Tee Higgins.
On the defensive side of the ball, ACC Defensive Player of the Year and Butkus Award winner Isaiah Simmons is off to the NFL as well as All-ACC cornerback A.J. Terrell, All-American safety Tanner Muse and All-ACC safety K’Von Wallace. Clemson also lost weakside linebacker Chad Smith to graduation.
However, as Swinney pointed out, there is a bright side.
“Fifteen mid-years just got here, and we’ve got a lot of people back, and I’m excited about what our future is,” he said. “This was the end of a great decade. We would have certainly loved to have ended it as national champs, but we’re excited about the Roaring ’20s.”
Swinney has good reason to be optimistic.
Two-time ACC Player of the Year, running back Travis Etienne, is back for his senior year. All-everything quarterback Trevor Lawrence will be back and will be highly motivated after suffering his first loss in his college career.
At wide receiver Justyn Ross returns, as well as senior Amari Rodgers. The Tigers also got a playmaker back at tight end in Braden Galloway, who proved in the CFP his skills were highly missed in the 2019 season.
Back on the defensive side of the ball is a front four that returns everyone on the two-deep, plus some added talent with 2020 signees Bryan Bresee, Demonte Capehart and Myles Murphy. Bresee (6-5, 295) and Capehart (6-5, 294) will likely help at the defensive tackle spots, while Murphy (6-5, 260) will help with depth at strongside defensive end.
At linebacker James Skalski is the lone returner from a defense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in almost every category. However, the middle linebacker finished second behind Simmons in tackles with 105, including 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He also broke up four passes and had 10 quarterback pressures.
“My grandmother told me about the Roaring ’20s, so I’m getting to live them, and I can’t wait,” Swinney said.
Clemson will begin spring practice on Feb. 26 and the spring game will be April 4 at 2:30 p.m., at Memorial Stadium in Clemson. The Tigers kick off the 2020 football season on Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech.
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