The Clemson Football Stat No One Else in the Country Can Touch

This stat from the Clemson Tigers is something that can't be matched on the gridiron; it's soley in the classroom

Clemson is doing this one thing very right in a year where a lot went wrong | GREENVILLE NEWS-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers football program has taken plenty of criticism, most of it fair, throughout its disappointing 2025 season.

But one thing that rarely, if ever, comes into question is Dabo Swinney’s commitment to developing his players from young men into well-rounded adults by the time their days with the Tigers are done.

And that part of the program’s identity was quantified once again in the NCAA’s latest graduation data release.

On Wednesday, the Tigers football program posted that Clemson’s 2015-2018 cohort of football players posted a 98% NCAA Graduation Success Rate.

The post mentioned that Clemson is the only FBS program to finish with a 98 or better in each of the last three cohorts, matching Harvard as the only Division I program to reach that accomplishment.

Clemson Football posted a 98% in NCAA Graduation Success Rate data released Wednesday for the 2015-18 cohort.

Clemson is the only FBS program to post a 98 or better in each of the last three cohorts and stands with Harvard as the only Division I programs to accomplish the feat. pic.twitter.com/2Sz0oBAvI3

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) November 19, 2025

Before this season, Clemson was the only team in the country to rank in the top 25 in both the AP rankings and graduation rates for 13 straight years.

Besides Clemson’s top-notch academic support programs for athletes, this impressive mark can also be attributed to the team’s retention rate and Swinney’s reluctance to cut players. Now in his 18th season at Clemson, the Tigers' head coach maintains that he will never cut a player as long as they abide by the program's rules.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Swinney offered some insight into his unwritten rule.

“If a kid comes to Clemson, he is a good kid and he is not a good enough player; that is on us. Long as he goes to class, he is a great effort guy, he is a good citizen, it’s till graduation do we part,” Swinney said. “As long as a kid does what he is supposed to do here, he is going to have an opportunity to graduate from Clemson. That is just the way it is. It is always going to be that way as long as I am the head coach.”

Heading into the season, Clemson returned 80% of their team from the 2024 campaign. When asked about the program's impressive retention rate during the offseason, Swinney credited his players for being high-character individuals.

 “They value the place that they're at,” he said. “These guys, they could all go wherever they want to go, but it's a close group. They've done football life together for a few years now, and they've had some success. Certainly, last year and getting a chance to maybe get a little glimpse at the top of the mountain, that's certainly given them a little fuel as they've gotten back to work since January.”