Athlon Sports recently published anonymous quotes from ACC coaches about each team in the league ahead of the 2026 season. The commentary on Clemson in the article covers a few different topics, and it was generally negative.
One coach said he’d be “shocked” if the Tigers are better on the offensive side of the ball this year, while on the other side of the ball, one coach thinks the Tigers are coaching their defensive players too hard instead of just “letting them cut it loose.”
“Their backup QBs didn’t play much last year, and I didn’t think they were very good,” one anonymous ACC coach said. “I’d be shocked if they were better on offense even if they’re coached better. When Clemson is good, their quarterback is really good.”
“It’s almost like they overcoach their defensive players instead of letting them cut it loose and play,” an anonymous ACC coach said. “There were some schematic things where you felt like you could get them out of position. Usually, teams that are really talented do a little less and try to just let those guys cut it loose.”
On3 national analyst J.D. PicKell reacted to the anonymous comments about Clemson heading into the upcoming season.
Though many are down on the Tigers and skeptical of Dabo Swinney’s team entering 2026, coming off last season’s disappointing 7-6 campaign, PicKell doesn’t seem ready to put the nail in Clemson’s coffin just yet.
Based on past results under Swinney, PicKell wouldn’t be surprised if the Tigers bounce back this year.
“I don’t think it is super safe to just put the nail in the coffin and say Clemson’s cooked,” he said. “Two reasons why – one, whenever we say Clemson is cooked, usually the year after they bounce back in a pretty big way. They go from Cheez-It Bowl to the New Year’s Six. They go from being 9-3 and barely making the playoff. Clemson usually bounces back in a pretty big way under Dabo Swinney. It’s very rare they’ve strung together multiple massively mediocre seasons in the last 10ish or so years, I would say. I think when you look at Clemson right now, it’s fair to think about that.”
PicKell pointed to Swinney’s pedigree and says he’s “slowly but surely” going through an “adaption phase.”
“It’s also fair to acknowledge, hey, Dabo is still a really freaking good coach,” PicKell said. “Maybe the scheme isn’t adapting as much, but Dabo has kind of adapted when it comes to how he puts his roster together. Like, Clemson went and took double-digit transfers. Maybe it’s not all the guys that you and I know about. … It wasn’t all those name-brand guys, but Clemson went and got better at some key positions. … Chris Johnson Jr., transferring over from SMU, that’s a good running back. He will be an explosive weapon for Clemson this year. We’ll see if Chris Vizzina and Tait Reynolds can make that system go.
“So, Dabo, say what you want – he is slowly but surely starting to adapt to where college football is trending. Maybe he’s not doing a cannonball into the new waters of college football, but he is starting to dip his toe.”
One anonymous ACC coach in Athlon’s article has his doubts about a Clemson offensive turnaround under Chad Morris, saying he believes the Tigers’ offense under former coordinator Garrett Riley “was essentially Chad Morris’ offense being called by Garrett Riley.”
“The same concepts that they ran in 2025, you can go back to the beginning when Dabo got there and see the same thing,” the anonymous coach said. “I don’t think it was Garrett Riley’s offense. It was essentially Chad Morris’ offense being called by Garrett Riley.”
The good news, PicKell says, with Morris back as Clemson’s offensive coordinator?
“The good news for Clemson fans – if that’s the case and Dabo is so married to the scheme that he won’t break up with it, now it’s Chad Morris running Chad Morris’ offense,” PicKell said.