A 7-5 record is certainly not what Clemson had envisioned or hoped for when the Tigers entered this season ranked No. 4 in the country, with national championship aspirations, after winning the 2024 ACC title and appearing in the College Football Playoff last season.

However, while Clemson’s championship hopes weren’t realized this year, head coach Dabo Swinney still loves how his team responded amid heavy adversity.

After a 1-3 start, Clemson won six of its last eight games in the regular season and ended it on a four-game winning streak, capped off by last Saturday’s 28-14 victory at rival South Carolina.

“[Seven wins] wasn’t what we set out for our story to be, but that’s our story, and that’s what life’s all about,” Swinney said after the win over South Carolina. “When good things happen to you, how do you respond? And when bad things happen to you, how do you respond? And man, you saw a group of young people that have responded to a lot of adversity, a lot of disappointment, a lot of negativity, a lot of that stuff. They’ve stayed together. They’ve continued to believe.”

Swinney went so far as to say that the 2025 squad “is the greatest turnaround team in Clemson history.”

Clemson’s longtime head coach referenced the fact that the 2025 Tigers became the first team in school history to win seven games in a season in which the team started the year with one win or fewer through four games.

“This is the greatest turnaround team in Clemson history,” Swinney said. “There’s 30 teams that started 1-3 or worse – we were only the fourth to get to six [wins]; nobody got to seven.”

Clemson will try to earn its eighth win with a bowl victory, which would give the Tigers at least eight wins for the 15th consecutive season.

“There’s only two other teams that have had eight-[plus] wins 15 years in a row, and that’s Alabama and Georgia,” Swinney pointed out.

With the regular season wrapped up, Clemson now awaits its bowl destination, which will be announced on Dec. 7. The Tigers will attempt to extend their FBS-record streak of 14 consecutive seasons with at least one postseason victory.