Top NCAA Analyst Believes Clemson Tigers in Store for Great Season

At least one NCAA football analyst believes the Clemson Tigers have a great season in store for the 2025 campaign.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney speaks during the Clemson Club football National Signing Day wrap up presented by Clemson Seneca Chick-Fil-A at the Poe Indoor Practice Facility at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. Feb 5, 2025. | Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the start of the college football season six months away, there is plenty of work to be done for the Clemson Tigers before that.

As the Tigers get set for the 2025 campaign, they are fortunately bringing back a good amount of players from what ended up being a good team in 2024.

A few notable players are heading to the NFL are running back Phil Mafah, tight end Jake Briningstool, and linebacker Barrett Carter. However, with eight returning starters on the offensive side of the ball, expectations are going to be high.

The return of quarterback Cade Klubnik is the key piece returning for the program. The junior was able to total 36 touchdown passes, 3,639 passing yards and just six interceptions last year. He should be a Heisman Trophy contender to start next season.

Klubnik’s development was the main reason why Clemson was able to win 10 games and an ACC title. While the program has had a lot of success over the last decade, 2024 felt like a step in the right direction for the program to get back to being a true title contender.

ESPN NCAA football analyst and former star linebacker for the Georgia Bulldogs, David Pollack recently spoke about head coaches in the country with the most to gain in the upcoming season.

He highlighted Dabo Swinney as one of his choices and spoke about the great head coach losing a little bit of his luster over the past few years but seemingly starting to get it back in 2024. Also, he expects some great things from the program in 2025.

“I think that this year is going to be a big year for Clemson,” Pollack said on his show.

There aren’t too many coaches with the career pedigree that Swinney has. Considering his two national championships have come within the last decade, he doesn’t seem to get the credit that he deserves anymore.

Part of that lately is likely due to the changes in the landscape of college football with recruiting, the transfer portal, and NIL.

The game is vastly different than when the Tigers last won in 2018. But Swinney, who has been reluctant to adapt, seemingly is opening up to it a bit more with a couple of impact transfers coming in.

Even though it might feel like quite some time since Clemson was last in the National Title picture, this is a program that is primed to get back to being a contender in 2025. With one of the best head coaches in the country, expect big things from the Tigers.