The 2024 Clemson football season left much to be desired from Tiger fans.
While Dabo Swinney and the Tigers found a way to backdoor themselves into the ACC Championship and, subsequently, the College Football Playoff, there were far too many letdowns, including the biggest of them all: Losing to in-state rival South Carolina. Though they led the Gamecocks for much of the afternoon, the defense couldn't stop LaNorris Sellers' legs in the fourth quarter, and the Tigers fell apart at home.
Now, Clemson looks poised to be one of the top teams in the country heading into 2025, but is it fool's gold, or does Dabo Swinney have a legit national power on his hands again?
The ceiling and floor for the Clemson Tigers in 2025
Clemson returns nearly everyone from last season. The Tigers will have Cade Klubnik back at quarterback, along with all their major receivers, including Antonio Williams, Bryant Wesco, T.J. Moore, and Tyler Brown. Oh, and did we mention they return four starters on the offensive line?
Defensively, Dabo Swinney hired Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen for the same role there. Peter Woods, T.J. Parker, Demonte Capehart, Aveion Terrell, Sammy Brown, and Khalil Barnes all return. That 's a lot of talent for Allen — who was one of the top defensive coordinators in the country last year — to work with.
In addition, Clemson brought in three transfers in EDGE Will Heldt, WR Tristan Smith, and LB/EDGE Jeremiah Alexander.
The Floor
With all that being said, Clemson doesn't have the easiest of schedules. The Tigers have bookend games with LSU and South Carolina, and they'll play essentially everyone in the top-half of the ACC outside of Miami, including Georgia Tech, SMU, Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, and North Carolina.
There's no way, at least in my opinion, that the offense takes a step with that kind of firepower, so it's certainly reasonable to think that the offense will at least keep them in games this season. However, there is still a world where Clemson finishes 9-3 and disappointingly misses out on the ACC Championship game and the College Football Playoff.
The Ceiling
While the floor for this team might be 9-3, the ceiling and the expectations are much higher. If Tom Allen can get the defense just to be a Top-20 defense, you're talking about a national championship contender.
Clemson gets LSU at home to start the season. If the Tigers can get over that stumbling block — and they'll be a slight favorite to do so — they'll be off and running. The ceiling for Clemson likely is 11-1 with wins over LSU and South Carolina. Then, they'd go on and win the ACC Championship, earn a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff and be set up needing just one win to advance to the semifinals.
It would take some things falling into place, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Clemson can win the national championship in 2025. This is Dabo Swinney's best chance to do so since the Trevor Lawrence years, and he has both the coaching staff and the roster to be competitive.