CLEMSON – In just one week, Clemson will be faced with a daunting task to open its 2026 campaign.

The Tigers, freshly reloaded with transfer portal supplements and a new offensive coordinator, will head to Baton Rouge, La., next Saturday to begin their season against No. 11 LSU. 

In the hours leading up to the 7:30 p.m., Eastern Time kickoff, the environment will be hostile for the orange-and-white Tigers. LSU fans will be celebrating at ESPN’s College Gameday in the early morning, then will migrate to tailgates and end up at Tiger Stadium, embodying a sold-out crowd of 102,000 strong. 

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, however, has been in big games before, and seen his fair share of adverse environments. He has played for four national championships and 10 ACC championships. He’s won games against highly-ranked opponents like Auburn, Texas A&M, Miami and Virginia Tech on the road.

Since midway through the 2009 season, when he took over as head coach at Clemson, Swinney has maintained a 58-25 record in true road games, winning 70 percent of his games on the road. 

That consistency, he credits to a simple message — taking things one game at a time.

“I mean, that’s always the case here for us,” Swinney said. “It’s just this one meeting, this one day, this one rep, this one quarter, this one half, this one game. That’s, I think, how you don’t get overwhelmed by the totality of what all is coming.

“Let’s just be great right here where our feet are. But the biggest thing for us is, just again, just truly living out our standard and our best is the standard. Everybody being their best.”

The step-by-step mantra is true of the LSU game, in which the Tigers will be taking the contest one play, drive and quarter at a time– but the mentality is not just applied to intense away games. Instead, it is built in the quiet monotony of the offseason.

“You got to get everybody all in and committed to being their best, doing their best, sleeping their best, eating their best, thinking their best, meeting their best, preparing their best,” Swinney said. “Everything. And that’s how you become your best. And when you get a group of people that are really truly collectively committed and all in to being, doing, thinking their best day in and day out, well, maybe you could be the best, but you got no chance to be the best at anything until you learn how to be your best, and not sit around and compare yourself to other people.”

Preseason comparisons certainly did not work last season, when No. 4 Clemson was favored to beat the Bayou Bengals by 4.5 points at Memorial Stadium. Instead of a roaring victory that would eventually result in a College Football Playoff appearance, Clemson lost to LSU 17-10 and went on to lose two of its next three games.

If comparison did not work then, it certainly will not in 2026. Not with former Ole Miss head coach and offensive wizard Lane Kiffin at LSU’s helm. Analyst Phil Steele ranks every LSU position group, but two, higher than Clemson’s, and Vegas expecting Swinney’s team to lose by 10.5 points.

Though he did not harp on those metrics, Swinney knows that the conversation and odds are stacked against his visiting Tigers in LSU’s Death Valley. Still, his process remains the same.

“I am not worried about getting the result. I am worried about doing the work that will lead to the result. That is all I am worried about. These guys, if they show up and compete, I believe they are capable of competing with anybody,” Swinney said. “Now, let’s not kid ourselves, we will have to play, not perfect, but not far from it.”

This offseason, especially after the Tigers’ 7-6 finish last year, Swinney’s sentiment has been passed down to Clemson’s leaders, who also are looking for revenge and their first win to open a season since 2022. 

In fact, just 16 of the 121 team members were present for Clemson’s last victory in a season-opener. Junior linebacker Sammy Brown is hoping to add himself to the list. For the veteran, though, it all starts with Clemson.

“We really try to just live inside out in everything that we do,” Brown said in a recent appearance on ACC Network. “I think it’s just a mindset that we have to just go to work every single day. It doesn’t matter what people say about us. It doesn’t matter what other people do. It’s just a matter of us putting our heads down and going to work every single day.”