Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney led his squad on a historic run during the 2018 season, when the Tigers became the first major college football team in the modern era to finish a season with a 15-0 record.

But despite that unprecedented accomplishment, Swinney clearly believes the best is still yet to come for his Clemson program.

Swinney made a bullish prediction for the future of Clemson Football in an article by ESPN’s Chris Low published on Monday.

“I’ve had one undefeated team,” Swinney said. “In 2018, we were the first 15-0 team in the history of major college football — ever. And I think we’re going to be the first 16-0 team. It’s a race to do that.”

Swinney’s bold statement came in Low’s article detailing the “winning formula that has Clemson poised for a championship run.”

In recent years, some were having conversations about whether Swinney’s program had dropped off from its usual spot at the top of the ACC and among college football’s elite teams, and many were questioning Swinney’s way of doing things in the current landscape of college football.

However, things are much different now heading into the upcoming season, as there’s been no shortage of preseason hype and praise for Swinney’s Tigers, who are considered a legitimate national championship contender this year. After capturing yet another ACC Championship and returning to the College Football Playoff last season, Clemson is widely viewed as one of the best teams in college football entering the 2025 campaign.

Here’s one excerpt from Low’s article:

Over the last few years, some skeptics have proclaimed the game was passing Swinney by, given his reluctance to use the portal and with NIL payments becoming the norm.

Yet as Swinney enters his 17th season as Clemson’s coach, he may well have his best team since the Tigers’ run from 2015 to 2020, when they played in four national title games and won two championships.

And in large part, the roster has been built through continuity, with Clemson retaining more players over the last four years than any power conference team.

As Swinney proudly says, his program is “built for the chaos” of today’s college football world.

“I tell people all the time that playing at Clemson is the closest thing you can get to that feeling of playing on a high school football team, that when you take the field you’re playing with the same guys,” said Walker Parks, Clemson’s sixth-year senior offensive guard. “It makes a difference, man. You grow up with these dudes.”

Swinney enters the 2025 season as the winningest coach in ACC history (180 victories). He passed College Football Hall of Famer Bobby Bowden in 2024 by earning his 174th career win.

Clemson produced its 13th 10-win season in 14 years and its eighth ACC title in a 10-year span in 2024. A dramatic walk-off field goal to win the 2024 ACC Championship Game against SMU propelled Clemson to its seventh College Football Playoff berth (second-most all-time) in the first year of the 12-team CFP era. The conference championship was Swinney’s ninth, pushing him past College Football Hall of Famer Frank Howard (eight, including six ACC titles) for the most in school history.