Clemson was one of the media darlings of the offseason last year, when the Tigers were ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP Poll and were a popular pick among college football pundits to win the national title.

Now, Dabo Swinney’s program heads into the upcoming season looking to rebound from a disappointing 7-6 campaign in 2025, when Clemson failed to live up to those lofty preseason expectations despite a very talented roster.

So, what’s the ceiling – and the floor – for the Tigers in 2026? Former Georgia All-American linebacker and ex-ESPN analyst David Pollack, who now hosts his own show called See Ball Get Ball, recently weighed in on that.

For the 2026 season, Pollack views 10 wins as the ceiling for Clemson, saying that hitting double-digit victories “would be awesome” for a bounce-back campaign, while pointing to a 6–6 regular season as the type of realistic floor if the offense doesn’t improve under new coordinator Chad Morris.

“Counting on him [Chad Morris] to get the offensive identity back, too, of running the football. Clemson, they need an identity,” Pollack said. “Because if we watch this team and their offense is as sporadic as it was a year ago and as inconsistent, they’re going 6-6 at the best. … I feel like [10 wins] would be a great season. Like, that would be the best season possible, to me, is 10 wins for Clemson. That would be awesome.”

What if you split the difference between 10 and six wins, and the Tigers were to go 8-4 during the regular season?

“If you go 8-4, I think you’re OK with that,” Pollack said. “I don’t think you’re disappointed. I think you realize that you got some rebuilding years. But I know their big slogan is ‘take Clemson back to the top.’ I know the recruiting class next year is really good, one of the best they’ve had in a long time. … But I think 8-4 would be great for Clemson.

“I think what Clemson fans want to see is the offensive identity come back. If they have an offensive identity and they can be explosive and start scoring points… I know the defense was great when they were there, too. But it was like next QB after next QB, up tempo, wear people out. Like, I think they want to see that. And I think if you can see some of that, then  you start pointing to the future, where they got one of the best quarterbacks in the country coming in next year, and then building towards the future because they’ve got some big recruits that are coming in. But I think Dabo has earned a heck of a lot longer leash than one bad season. I think it’s gonna take two or three before people start to get frustrated.”

Pollack emphasized that everything for the Tigers comes down to getting production at quarterback under the new offensive framework, whether it be veteran Christopher Vizzina or true freshman Tait Reynolds replacing three-year starter Cade Klubnik.

“Is Clemson going to be back? Are they going to be Clemson that we’re thinking of? There’s one thing to me that sticks out, very simply, is quarterback, man,” Pollack said. “Like what is this offense going to be? And the senior to me, if we know anything about Dabo Swinney, he’s going to get the nod. Christopher Vizzina. … He’s the favorite to replace Klubnik, who got drafted. … He threw for 300-plus yards [vs. SMU]. Had some good moments. Threw the ball 42 times, too. It was pretty clear that they trusted him. So can the new system bring that in? Tait Reynolds is a big-time freshman QB who’s got some talent that they really, really like. But I think Swinney is going to give the guy — it’s going to be CV’s job to lose, is what he said, and Tait’s opportunity to go win it.”

Pollack cited the defensive front seven as Clemson’s biggest strength entering 2026, while circling the offseason hire of Morris to return and lead the offense as the biggest addition.

“The biggest strength is what the biggest strength is for Clemson every single year, and that’s the defensive front,” Pollack said. “That front seven has a chance to be really, really good. Sammy Brown has been making plays. He’s an All-ACC linebacker. He’s always all over the place. Has been since he’s been there, man. Sammy Brown is just an absolute stud. Will Heldt, when you watched him come in a year ago from Purdue, the thing I loved about that sucker, is — yes, he’s big at 6-7, huge, really good at what he does —  but whether the score was 100-0 or 30-0, always played the same. Impact player. Jahiem Lawson, Shaq Lawson’s brother, is ready for a bigger role.

“The biggest addition, Chad Morris. Chad Morris comes back. This worked once. A lot of people talking about Dabo, talking about this offense, talking about what they need to do. Well, when he was there, the offense from 2011-14, this established who they were, what they were, the tempo. They developed into a national championship program because of Chad Morris. So, for years, it was that way. For years, Dabo Swinney was anti-portal, but now, it’s kind of changed. Clemson just signed their largest-ever transfer portal class. They signed 11 guys, man. They signed SMU running back Chris Johnson Jr. Probably the most important position. They needed somebody. He averaged 7 yards a carry [at SMU]. Didn’t get a ton of run, but a guy that you definitely liked what you saw. Also caught passes out of the backfield. A chance to really make some plays. Gideon Davidson will be another guy who’s expected to run the rock, get that running game going.”

Clemson opens the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against LSU in an extremely hostile environment at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. – also known as Death Valley, which Pollack currently considers the “real Death Valley” since LSU went on the road and won at Clemson’s Death Valley in last year’s season opener.

“By the way, the real Death Valley, because they won last year in [Clemson’s] Death Valley,” Pollack said. “LSU, to me, took the trophy. If Clemson wins this year in Death Valley, their Death Valley is the Death Valley. That’s the way it works for me.”