Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was confident about his team last fall after the Tigers won five straight games following some early problems.
It won’t take long to find out if Swinney’s confidence is justified. For now, Swinney likes how his team has prepared for a season where they hope to compete again for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and the College Football Playoff.
Swinney said his players have shown good chemistry, leadership, and responsibility, understanding the mistakes that led to their 4-4 start and eliminated their title chances.
“All those things, they all check the boxes,” Swinney said. “Now, we got to get out on the field, got to put the work in, get better and find a way to win some games on the field.”
Clemson’s season will likely be shaped by its first few games.
The 14th-ranked Tigers start in Atlanta against No. 1 Georgia, the national champions in 2021 and 2022. Three weeks later, Clemson will host No. 24 North Carolina State, and two weeks after that, they will play at No. 10 Florida State.
Winning all these games would make Swinney look like a genius aiming for another national title.
Losing all of them would lead to more questions about Swinney’s leadership, similar to the situation last year when a call from “Tyler from Spartanburg” on Swinney’s radio show led to a strong defense of his program and might have inspired the team’s late-season comeback.
Swinney attributed the previous season’s issues to poor decisions and turnovers, which Clemson improved during their last five wins. The Tigers began to force mistakes rather than make them themselves, and Swinney hopes this trend continues early in the new season.
