Is Clemson the ACC's Second-Best Team, or the Program That Decides Who Is?

Clemson’s 2025 season was confusing in every sense of the word.

The Tigers entered last fall billed as national title challengers. Quarterback Cade Klubnik was projected as one of the nation’s best quarterbacks. The defense was loaded with future NFL players. The schedule looked manageable, too, with only a few games against notable opponents spaced throughout the calendar.

But college football games aren’t played using projections or on paper, and from the start, something felt off about last year’s group.

In the massive home opener against Brian Kelly’s LSU, a team with equally lofty ambitions (and which also crashed and burned), Clemson came out flat and dropped its first game in front of a national TV audience.

The very next week, the Tigers limped across the finish line to a one-point win over visiting Troy, in a game where Clemson was very much on upset alert. Then came gobsmacking losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse in back-to-back weeks. Dabo Swinney blinked, and his team’s season was over before it ever got started.

This season, Clemson is flying under the radar. Depending on whom you ask, that might be a good thing. Expectations are tempered after the program’s worst record in 15 years (7-6).

Can Swinney and the Tigers recapture what made them an ACC powerhouse not so long ago? Or is Clemson’s 2026 ceiling playing ACC kingmaker?

Clemson Is Taking a Page Out of a Previous Era’s Playbook

One of the notable offseason storylines surrounding Clemson was Swinney’s decision to move on from offensive coordinator Garrett Riley in favor of former playcaller Chad Morris.

Morris was the Tigers’ offensive coordinator from 2011-14, when his offenses averaged 468.5 yards, 36.3 points per game and helped launch the Tajh Boyd version of modern Clemson.

This season, however, no clear-cut superstar is waiting in the wings. If the Morris addition was the biggest storyline, the runner-up was Swinney’s decision not to pursue a high-priced quarterback from the transfer portal. The Tigers are putting a lot of faith in first-time starter Christopher Vizzina.

In 142 plays last season, Vizzina didn’t exactly set the world on fire. He posted -0.11 EPA/play and 0.01 EPA/pass figures, and averaged only 5.4 net yards per pass, according to Hudl IQ. Perhaps Swinney’s loyalty will pay off, but it’s far from a guarantee.

Outside of the quarterback position, Clemson desperately needs to do a better job of running the football, generating chunk plays and being more successful on third downs.

Last season, Clemson gained 4.7 yards per rush and generated chunk plays (a play resulting in a gain of 15 or more yards) 9.9% of the time, both below league average, according to Hudl IQ. The Tigers ranked 106th nationally in rushing offense at 124.5 yards per game and 114th on third down last season. Clemson needs to make significant improvements in those three key areas if it hopes to make inroads in the ACC this season.

On defense, defensive coordinator Tom Allen is tasked with replacing NFL linemen Peter Woods and TJ Parker, along with second-round defensive back Avieon Terrell.

One significant returning piece on that side of the ball is Will Heldt, who tallied 46 tackles, 15 1/2 tackles for loss and 7 1/2 sacks in 2025. The Tigers will also need players such as London Merritt, a former Colorado transfer, plus Vic Burley and Ari Watford to step up after strong spring ball showings.

Last season, the secondary struggled, even with Terrell anchoring the back end. Clemson moved swiftly in the portal (not a normal maneuver under Swinney) to secure the services of Elliott Washington II, who played under Allen at Penn State, along with Auburn’s Donovan Starr, Old Dominion’s Jerome Carter and Southern Miss’ Corey Myrick. Ashton Hampton also returns as the top corner and should be a mainstay in the Tigers’ secondary this season.

Could Clemson Decide the ACC’s Second-Best Team?

One of the more interesting subplots to the Tigers’ 2026 season is the ACC schedule.

Clemson will host Miami and Virginia Tech, and play a crucial road game at Florida State on Halloween. All of those games made ESPN’s list of the five best ACC games.

If Clemson is firing on all cylinders, those three games could propel the Tigers to Charlotte for a spot in the ACC title game. If the Tigers put an incomplete product on the field, they hold the keys to several swing games that could send another program there.

We should get a good feel for just how good this Clemson team could be this Saturday when it travels to Baton Rouge for a prime-time rematch against Lane Kiffin’s LSU. The Bayou Bengals are projected to be a major factor in the SEC and College Football Playoff race this season. It should be a great measuring-stick game for both programs.

The fate of Clemson’s 2026 season rests on the playcalling abilities of an old friend in Chad Morris, the arm of an inexperienced quarterback in Christopher Vizzina and some key transfers across all three levels of the defense.

No one can say for certain how the season might unfold. But one way or the other, Clemson will play a starring role in how the ACC title race unfolds.