Tonight we have a special edition of the Insider Report.
What a difference a few weeks makes. Heading into the season Clemson was ranked among the elite and had a number of national analysts predicted the Tigers to win the national championship.
As you all know, Clemson suffered its second loss of the season this past Saturday, as Georgia Tech beat the Tigers 24-21 thanks to a 55-yard field goal as time expired.
The loss puts the Tigers at 1-2 in the young season, including 0-1 in ACC play.
There is a lot of blame to go around. Of course, it all starts with head coach Dabo Swinney. He has not had the team ready to play early on in the first three games, thus far. You can blame the assistant coaches. Twice we have seen defensive coaches either not have the right player on the field or get the call in fast enough. Both mistakes led to touchdowns from the opposing team.
The players deserve blame, too. Cade Klubnik looks like 2023 Cade Klubnik more than 2024 Cade Klubnik. Though there have been injuries, the offensive line has looked really bad at times and no one has had a passing grade yet this season.
Defensive end T.J. Parker, at times, looks like he is more worried about his NFL status than playing hard for Clemson, while other guys seem to take mental reps off and on, and do head scratching things at times. Like we said, there is a lot of blame to go around.
Brawl almost got started
One of Georgia Tech’s end zones did not have a net to kick into behind the goal post, so the footballs after each kick went into the stands, which was the big student section at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
After Clemson’s first touchdown, which happened just before halftime, kicker Nolan Hauser kicked the extra point into the stands. These footballs are expensive and are specially designed for each school. For instance, Clemson’s balls have a Tiger Paw on them, while Georgia Tech has its famous “GT” logo on its footballs.
After Hauser’s kick, we were told one of Clemson’s equipment managers, along with a Georgia Tech security person, went into the stands to retrieve the football. We were told the Tech students were a little hostile towards the Clemson manager and the security detail, and a brawl nearly broke out in the stands. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed.
This does not look good
One thing we heard this past weekend that some of you will not like is that some on the team was downtown Saturday night having a good time after the loss. TCI was told, “it seemed more like they won than they lost. It was a big party to them.”
Take what you will from that piece of information.
TCI heard there is some tension inside the locker room. Some of the players are not happy with how some of the other players are acting. They feel like some guys are not holding themselves as accountable and are not taking things as seriously as they need to.
More focused on spending money than getting better
Sticking with that theme, TCI got word that a few Clemson players spent this summer spending their revenue share and NIL money on clothes and glamorous trips than actually focusing on football and getting ready for the 2025 season.
We were told some of the players are guys “you would expect” to be leaders.
Interesting posts
After the game, if you did not know, Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell posted his highlights after the loss on social media. Ashton Hampton was doing the same thing.
Terrell eventually took his down after being called out by so many fans.
It’s interesting both cornerbacks were putting up their highlights from a loss considering Swinney called out the cornerbacks and nickel backs during his conference call with the media on Sunday.
“We are not playing well at corner right now, or at Tiger,” Swinney said. “So, we are soft on the perimeter, and we’ve got to get better.”
Tampering, and transfer portal
If things are not bad enough with Clemson’s 1-2 start, TCI has learned there are players on the team that are already being contacted by other Power 4 schools. Those schools are trying to get them to leave the Clemson team.
Remember, players can only play up to four regular season games if they want to redshirt. There are several upper classmen that are eligible for red shirts, still.
Clemson’s rocky start to the season could also impact its efforts on the recruiting trail.
One of its current commits in the 2026 class, four-star DE Dre Quinn, was on hand in Knoxville for Tennessee’s loss to Georgia. While there have been a few exceptions in the past, Dabo Swinney generally doesn’t like commits taking visits elsewhere. Quinn did a good job of keeping the visit under wraps, seeing as it didn’t come out until he was already on campus.
One source tells TCI that Quinn did in fact give the Clemson staff the heads up ahead of the visit, but how this thing plays out is yet to be determined. Quinn was at Clemson for the Tigers’ season-opening loss to LSU.
However, it’s the 2027 class that a down season might impact the most. The Tigers are trying to take some big swings in that class.
Also on hand for the loss to LSU were several high-profile 2027 targets, including five-star OL Kennedy Brown, five-star LB Kaden and five-star in-state CB Josh Dobson, just to name a few. While one or two individual losses don’t typically impact a decision, a down season will certainly hinder recruiting efforts. Particularly when the down season comes during the year you had a team most thought capable of competing for a national title.