Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney Expects Huge Improvement From Hated Rival

The Clemson Tigers needed some late season luck to win another ACC title last season with their fate to make the conference title game up in the air, but they did not need any luck to handle their hated rival on the road.

Just because the Florida State Seminoles are coming off a 2024 season that was nothing short of a complete and utter disaster, that does not mean Clemson is taking them lightly.

In fact, reality seems to be quite the opposite as Dabo Swinney will have his Tigers ready to go when the Seminoles come to town late in the season in November.

"You know the 'Noles will be better this year, we got them at home," Swinney said via Tommy Mire of Florida State On SI. "It's a lot of work, and we've got a lot of teams that I've got a ton of respect for."

Clemson and Florida State has been arguably the most hotly contested rivalry throughout Swinney's run, but for the most part the Tigers have owned it.

Apart from an overtime loss at Memorial Stadium in 2023, Clemson has won eight of the last nine editions of the game and have not lost in Tallahassee since 2014.

Nonetheless, the Seminoles proved two years ago that they can come into Death Valley and leave with a victory, and Swinney will certainly not let his team be caught napping.

Last year, the Tigers earned a 29-13 victory against a Florida State team on the road which was truly an awful group.

The 'Noles are coming off a season in which they went 2-10 and 1-7 within the conference after being ranked in the top-ten at the start of the year.

Clemson meanwhile comes off what was a strong season, but the Tigers figure to be much better in 2025 and enter the year as a heavy favorite to win the ACC once again.

As Florida State demonstrated in rather epic fashion last year though, being a favorite guarantees absolutely nothing, and this is a sport capable of humbling you very quickly.

With regards to the hated rival, it certainly sounds like Swinney is not going to let his team rest on their laurels just because they are coming off a poor season.

The Seminoles arrive for what should be quite the battle in South Carolina on November 8 and will be Clemson's second-to-last conference game of the campaign.