Swinney Draws Comparisons Between 2025 Clemson and 2016 Title Team

Sometimes it’s best to be viewed as an underdog without having to carry the burden of incredibly high expectations. Heading into the season fresh off an ACC Championship win and a College Football Playoff appearance, with several projected first-round picks, the Clemson Tigers were viewed as a legitimate national championship candidate this offseason.

After losing two of their first three games, with an unconvincing win against Troy in the middle, the Tigers are now unranked and have a losing record with their backs against the wall heading into Week 4.

While these discouraging performances suggest it might be time to chalk up any playoff hopes, it’s worth noting that both of Clemson’s losses have come down to the wire.

“We’ve had opportunities in both of those losses. But putting it all together has been our problem. Playing complimentary football in all three phases,” Swinney said after Clemson’s last-second loss to Georgia Tech. “It all falls on me. It’s my responsibility, I'm the head coach. But I've been in this situation. During my first year we started 2-3 and still made it to the ACC Championship game.”

Clemson’s slow start doesn’t erase the fact that Cade Klubnik was an All-Conference quarterback who threw for four touchdowns while leading the Tigers to a win over a top ten team in the 2024 ACC Championship. It also doesn’t change that the Tigers front seven has two former Freshman All-Americans (T.J. Parker, Peter Woods), a former ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year (Sammy Brown), and a former All-Big Ten transfer (Will Heldt).

But as Swinney said, Clemson has failed to get all of its talented players to gel on one cohesive level. With more than ten starters from last year’s team returning, the Tigers’ slow start has understandably been both confusing and concerning, but Swinney insists his team still has a shot to make a postseason run.

“We’ve got no room for error. The wind is definitely blowing against our face, and we are climbing uphill,” Swinney said. “We’ve got to do it the hard way, but we’re not out. As long as we stay together, as long as we keep competing, anything can happen. The good news is, we’ve got a tough team.”

As somebody who has won multiple National Championships and made a handful of College Football Playoff runs, Swinney knows what it takes to fight through early adversity. According to Swinney, this year’s team reminds him of Clemson’s 2016 National Championship winning team, who were involved in eight one-score games that season, including an upset loss to Pittsburgh.

“I feel like I'm living in 2016 all over again. In fact, I went back and looked at my notes from the 2016 Troy game (30-24), I could have walked into the team meeting with the same comments,” Swinney said. “This team hasn't had rat poison. They’ve just had the ‘you suck’ poison. It’s the first time they’ve really had to manage that. I don't think some of them have managed it well, obviously.”

The Tigers have a long road ahead of them, but with championship-level coaching and first-round talent on both sides of the ball, it’s too early to count them out just yet.

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