CLEMSON – This time last year, everyone wondered if Dabo Swinney still had it as a head coach. In fact, one national writer placed Swinney outside the top 5 in his rankings of the nation’s best head coaches in college football.
People said Florida State was the new King of the ACC and that the Tigers’ run of dominating the conference for over a decade was over.
Shows you what they know.
The Seminoles went from first to worst in 2024, while Clemson claimed its throne as the King of the ACC once again and returned to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020.
Fast forward to today and it is hard to find anyone outside of ESPN’s FPI that does not think Clemson is a legitimate contender for the national championship. Even ESPN’s own Heather Dinich said the Tigers are the most underrated team in ESPN’s FPI.
“The Clemson Tigers should be a top five team and ESPN’s FPI has them at No. 11,” she said on Instagram. “I do not know how they are outside the top 10, but for me, preseason rankings should be based on what you know you have coming back. Not based on what you think you have through the transfer portal or a hyped-up quarterback who has never started a game before.”
No one has the amount of returning production like the Tigers. They are loaded with returning starters on offense and defense, plus they return quarterback Cade Klubnik, who was one of the top QBs in the country a year ago.
Add to that fact a wide receiving room that returns their top three receivers from last year, as well as returns the top receiver from 2023.
“Klubnik has a lot of talented wide receivers to throw to,” Dinich said. “Clemson has one of the best defensive lines in the country. These Tigers should be a top 10 team without a doubt this preseason.”
A lot of people agree with Dinich. USA Today Sports has the Tigers ranked No. 2, while CBS Sports has Clemson on its list for the most hyped teams this preseason.
“Dabo Swinney is nearly seven years removed from his second national championship, but after a long stretch that saw his Clemson program slip from its pedestal, he has a behemoth of a 2025 roster that could get back to the mountaintop,” CBS’s Carter Bahns wrote. “Cade Klubnik might be college football’s top quarterback after he improved throughout last season, and his stacked receiving corps will only help him reach the next level as a Heisman contender. Expected improvements on defense with Tom Allen taking over the unit will make the Tigers as well-rounded as anyone.”
Everyone will learn just how good Clemson can be in a few months, as the 2025 Football season opens versus LSU at Memorial Stadium in Clemson.