Should Clemson fans be worried about the Tigers’ offseason?

At least a couple of national analysts think so.

The Cover 3 Podcast broke down the most concerning offseasons in college football, and college football analyst Danny Kanell believes Clemson has had a “rough” offseason.

“I think Clemson’s had a rough offseason,” he said.

Kanell, the former Florida State quarterback, explained why he thinks that’s the case.

“Normally you would say if you had nine players drafted [like Clemson did in the 2026 NFL Draft], you’d feel pretty good about yourselves,” Kanell said. “But Clemson – just learning that they were one of the most underachieving teams in the entire country [last season]. The frustration of their worst season they’ve seen in the Dabo Swinney era [since 2010]. Combined with a shakeup on the offensive staff that I don’t know if they’re too enthusiastic about, bringing back Chad Morris. Breaking in a new quarterback [Christopher Vizzina] that everyone’s kind of just fingers crossed that you hope is going to be good, and then you hear that he’s getting pressed by a true freshman [Tait Reynolds].”

Fellow analyst Tom Fornelli agreed with Kanell’s assessment, with Fornelli saying he thinks the Tigers have had a “terrible” offseason.

Fornelli was asked if he thinks head coach Dabo Swinney’s job would be safe, should the Tigers experience another season similar to last year when they went 7-6, the second-worst record under Swinney behind the 6-7 campaign in 2010.

“I would never say never at this point with any coach,” Fornelli said. “They had nine guys taken in the draft. I think that’s terrible news for Clemson. Because if you look at their recruiting rankings of recent years, I don’t think they’re going to have nine guys taken in the draft again anytime soon. So, yeah, I’ve said they’re dead. I think that they had a terrible offseason. I would totally agree with that.

“If they struggle to get to a bowl again, do you really want to run it back with Dabo? Or do you say, ‘Hey listen, man. We really genuinely appreciate everything you did for this program. But if you’re not going to adapt to what we need to do to keep doing what you already have accomplished, we need to find somebody who is.’”

As Fornelli alluded to, he opined on the Cover 3 Podcast back in March that Clemson Football is dead and its “time as a premier program in college football is officially done.”

“Clemson is dead. It’s dead. It’s not coming back,” Fornelli said. “As the offseason goes on, you will start seeing people saying, ‘Maybe ole Clemson, maybe this is the year they…’ Nope, it’s dead. … All these Clemson players have been going early in the draft, and the team has not lived up to the talent level on the field in recent years. I was looking at the big board for the ‘27 season. … There are only two Clemson players in the top 100. The talent is gone. They don’t have the same kind of players that they have had all these years. Miami is resurgent. You’re seeing in the portal – like, Virginia Tech is now going to basically be another version of what Penn State was, which might not have been good enough to win the Big Ten, but guess what, Penn State was good enough to win the ACC. So if you bring that to Virginia Tech, you bring that to Blacksburg, and that’s a team that’s very good. Florida State, we know, is punting on this season. They’re thinking more long-term, but they’re probably not going to go anywhere.

“I think Clemson’s time as a premier program in college football is officially done.”

Kanell stated the obvious – that Clemson fans will not be pleased with Swinney if the Tigers suffer through another subpar season in 2026.

“He’s one of the coaches that kinda has the lifetime deal, but no one has a lifetime deal,” Kanell said. “It just gets so uncomfortable if that happens, if those conversations take place. But I do think that’s what’s at stake. If they’re a seven-win team again, there are going to be some upset Clemson fans.”