Legendary former Alabama coach and current ESPN college football analyst Nick Saban sounded off with some thoughts on Clemson heading into the 2026 season, following a highly disappointing 7-6 campaign in 2025.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban was asked if this is the year where Dabo Swinney and the Tigers will return to national prominence, after failing to live up to the lofty, national-championship-contender expectations last season.
Saban, a seven-time national championship coach who led Alabama to six national titles, isn’t willing to commit to Clemson being “back” this year and says the Tigers have to prove it.
“I think we’ll see if they’re back,” Saban said. “I know they’ve got a lot of question marks, too, whether it’s quarterback, and they’ve got a lot of holes to fill. I mean, everybody thought they were going to be the class of the town last year, and it just completely disintegrated on them.
“So, I don’t know. I’m not ready to put my stamp on it. I have to see it first.”
One of Clemson’s biggest tests and measuring sticks this fall will come on Oct. 3, when the Tigers play host to Miami.
Mario Cristobal’s Hurricanes, who are coming off an appearance in last season’s national championship game, are widely viewed as the team to beat in the ACC entering 2026.
“I think in that league, somebody better beat Miami,” Saban said. “Because I think Mario’s got it going down there, and they’ve got some good players, and they’re physical. And the one thing about this – you can talk about who won the national championship and all that – but there’s not a team that has won the national championship or played in the national championship game that is not physical. … You better be physical. Is Clemson going to be physical enough to match up with those teams? I want to see that.”
We’ll find out a lot about this year’s Clemson team right off the bat when the ACC’s Tigers travel to play the SEC’s LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, La., on Sept. 5 (7:30 p.m., ABC).
ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast from Baton Rouge for the highly anticipated Week 1 matchup, which will mark Lane Kiffin’s LSU head coaching debut, and Saban gave his expectations for Kiffin in his first year leading the Bayou Bengals.
“I think that Lane did really well in terms of roster management, bringing 59 new players in – a very good recruiting class, but also a very good top-end bunch of guys out of the portal. They’ve got some really good players,” Saban said. “Do they have enough depth on their team to be able to sustain the grind of playing the kind of schedule they have to play, and do they have the culture built to be able to do that? I don’t think there’s any doubt that Lane will be successful at LSU. I just don’t know if it’s realistic to think that turnaround is gonna happen immediately. …
“So, I think Lane is gonna do really, really well there. I think LSU is a tremendous job. They’ve got a lot of good players in the state. Those players like to stay close to home. They love LSU. He’s got a really good fan base. He’s got a lot of support. I think the administration is aligned to help him be successful. And look, he’s been successful everywhere he’s been, really. … I think there’s more potential for success at LSU than any place he’s ever been.”
LSU is currently a 10.5-point favorite against Clemson, per FanDuel Sportsbook.