Clemson Football: 5 keys for successful 2019 season

1. Staying hungry

Winning one championship is difficult and winning two in three years is really difficult, but winning back-to-back titles presents a whole new challenge few have overcome.

Throughout the halls of all sporting history, example after example exist of dynasties who either lost desire or ran out of gas before they could obtain the elusive consecutive title.

For Clemson, running out of juice is unlikely. Unlike with professional sports like the NFL or the NBA where dynasties are built on the backs of the same players, college teams are flush with fresh bodies each year. Besides Hunter Renfrow, of course, few of the same key players contributed for Clemson’s 2016 and 2018 titles.

So, while energy and stamina is less of a concern for these Tigers, maintaining the hunger and commitment to excellence necessary to win another championship will present more of a challenge.

The danger could surface in two different ways.

The temptation to get sloppy will be strong during the dull, and frankly easy, ACC schedule facing the Tigers in the second half of the 2019 season. Florida State, Louisville, Boston College, North Carolina State and Wake Forest all wait to get crushed by the Clemson steamroller with little hope of upsetting a sharp, dialed-in Tiger team. However, college football is a strange game and if the Tigers don’t play their best football every week, anything could happen.

With that in mind, Clemson could play anything but their best game against any of these teams and still blow them off the field. But losing a regular season game is less of a concern than creating bad habits during the season.

With such a weak schedule, the Tigers can consider the regular season as a tune up for the College Football Playoff. By taking each opponent seriously, maintaining their hunger to keep “best the standard” and building good habits, Clemson will be ready when it matters most – in the College Football Playoff.