Clemson Tigers need a championship 'of some sort' in order for 2023 to be a success

The expectations are always high at Clemson as long as Dabo Swinney is the head coach. Since taking over in 2008, Swinney has a 161-39 record. Winning is without a doubt a way of life for the Tigers.

Just winning regular-season games is no longer enough for Clemson, though, especially after national championships in 2016 and 2018.

Clemson hasn't been to the Colleges Football Playoff in three seasons, now, so heading into the 2023 campaign, the Tigers are undoubtedly focused on getting back to the mountaintop. In fact, according to team captain and super-senior defensive tackle Tyler Davis, anything but a championship will be a failure for this Clemson team.

“I would say in my book, yes,” Davis said at the recent ACC Football Kickoff (h/t ASAP Sports) when asked if anything but a championship would be a failure for Clemson. “I mean, we come here. That’s one of our goals. We come here to graduate and win a championship and to leave better prepared as a man. I would say yes, to have a successful season, you have to win a championship of some sort.”

Notice the "to some sort" caveat Davis added to his answer. Some may view that as not shooting for the moon and making the CFP title the end-all, be-all, but it does make sense for an upperclassman leader to tamper with expectations just a hair. After all, if Clemson wins the ACC, it will be the eighth time in the past nine seasons the Tigers were able to do so -- which is quite a dominant run and shouldn't be discounted.

With that said, there's one ultimate goal at Clemson. Winning the ACC is step one to getting there, though it's worth noting the Tigers won the ACC last season and still didn't make the CFP.

Though winning the ACC and nothing else can't be considered a failure, you just know winning it all is the main goal for Davis and his teammates.

"Why not have this chance to go win a natty?," Davis said, specifically referencing his decision to come back to Clemson for one more season rather than go to the NFL.