Former NFL RB Doesn’t Get Why Clemson Is Being Overlooked
By: Staff Report August 28, 2023

Clemson has won seven ACC titles in the last eight years, and the Tigers are the defending conference champion after claiming the conference crown yet again last year. Even so, plenty of people have jumped on the Florida State hype train heading into this fall, and Clemson might not be getting enough preseason love.

Jacob Hester, the former LSU and NFL running back, doesn’t get why many seem to be overlooking Clemson entering 2023. And in his mind, the Tigers are still the king of the ACC until FSU or another team proves otherwise.

“They show up to the club, they should be ‘hey, VIP, let me open this rope for you right here in the back.’ Instead, for some reason, the guard is putting his hand on them like ‘woah, woah, woah, no, you gotta get to the back of the line.’ … It makes no sense to me. This is a team that last year, they still won the ACC. … So, I don’t know where this is coming from,” Hester, a 2007 national champion and 2008 third-round draft pick of the San Diego Chargers, said recently on SiriusXM College Sports Radio.

Hester clarified that he doesn’t think FSU, which is coming off its first 10-win season since 2016, isn’t a good team. But he’s “heard way too many people just assume that Florida State is going to take over the reins of the ACC when Clemson, last year, they won the conference and it wasn’t close.”

“They go and get Garrett Riley from the No. 2 team in the country, TCU, to be their offensive coordinator,” Hester said. “Now Cade Klubnik, he’s improving, there’s no doubt about that. But you have a Will Shipley yet again to turn around and hand the ball off to, and I think that he is going to be opened up in this new Garrett Riley offense, by the way.”

Hester is high on Duke and believes the Sept. 4 season opener against Clemson in Durham (8 p.m., ESPN) will tell a lot about the 2023 Tigers team before another huge test in the first month of the season – the Sept. 23 showdown against the Seminoles at Death Valley.

“We’re going to find out from the first game, make no mistake about it… I think a lot of the Duke Blue Devils,” Hester said. “That is going to be a road game for Clemson. They have got them standalone, Monday night, September the 4th, every eyeball on main ESPN. We’re going to find out exactly where they’re at because that is a very good Duke football team. Then you get Charleston Southern and then you get FAU, both at home, before you have Florida State, No. 8 team in the country, and they could be top five. If they win the LSU game, they will be top five.

“So, we’re going to find out early on, Clemson. But to me, they’re still VIP and they’re getting told to get in the back of the line, and I don’t understand it.”

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