CBS Sports' Aaron Taylor Calls Out Clemson Tigers’ Unexpected Regression

In Sunday's edition of College Football Today, the crew dove into a 10-minute segment about the Clemson Tigers' loss over Syracuse this past weekend, as well as the preseason hype and where exactly they go from this point on.

Among the voices at the desk, former Notre Dame standout Aaron Taylor's comments stood out, offering a blunt take on Clemson's shortcomings.

Taylor opened his remarks by zeroing in on Clemson's performance against Syracuse, pointing out that the Tigers had every opportunity to take control but repeatedly shot themselves in the foot in the second half.

"It's bad football. [Clemson] had five second-half turnovers; you're just not going to win doing that. Their offensive line played pretty well, and they ran the ball pretty well, but they just couldn't put it all together. I use this analogy a lot; it's like a good pot of gumbo, but there's no salt in it. They have a lot of the pieces that you would expect this to be a really delicious dish, but it's bland; something is not right in Clemson."

Taylor didn't stop with the mistakes of Saturday. He pushed the narrative further, highlighting just how stark the contrast is between what was expected of Clemson this season and the reality they're delivering. Remember, Clemson came into 2025 as the No. 4 team in the country, with multiple analysts projecting them as contenders for the national championship, including Taylor himself.

"It's baffling. I had them in the national championship against Notre Dame. But I also had Boise State as the group of five team [in the playoffs]. It's getting harder and harder to predict what we can expect from these teams. The floor is higher, the ceiling is lower, but even teams with experience, units in teams with experience are seemingly getting worse, not better."

The long-time analyst then widened the lens beyond a single game or expectations, pointing to broader forces reshaping College Football. He suggested that the recent rise of the NIL and the transfer portal is creating new challenges even for programs with a strong foundation like Clemson..

"We don't know quite yet why that is, but I'm seeing it; the whole committee on the Joe Moore Award is seeing it. It's part of this NIL and transfer portal world that we're discovering and in the midst of, but it's mind-boggling that Clemson isn't a better football team than they have. They've gotten worse, not better."

Despite the broader challenges, Taylor couldn't ignore the paradox on the field: Clemson still boasts top-tier talent, yet the team continues to struggle. 

The Tigers allow 240 passing yards per game (98th nationally) and 122 rushing yards per game (53rd), ranking 77th in total defense. Despite so much returning experience and top-tier talent, the defense has yet to show the improvement many anticipated under new defensive coordinator Tom Allen.

"T.J. Parker is a first-rounder, Peter Woods is a first-rounder, and Avieon Terrell, their corner, he is like a magnet. But their secondary is getting torched, and they had all this experience coming back. You asked the question, 'What's going on?" I don't have any idea, and I don't know if Dabo Swinney does either.