For a while now, college football analyst Josh Pate and Clemson fans have been at odds.
Pate previously voiced concerns that the Tigers' program was slipping from its elite status, especially after their 2025 recruiting class ranked 26th nationally—their lowest in years. This led to a flurry of reactions from the Clemson fanbase, who felt their team was being slighted.
While Pate noted that Clemson's recruiting class was below par, he left out certain facts like how the Tigers — even in their prime years under Dabo Swinney — didn't always have Top-10 recruiting classes.
In the past several years, Dabo Swinney has quietly made changes to operations and has made some great hires, as well. He brought in Garrett Riley at offensive coordinator and followed that up the next offseason with Matt Luke as offensive line coach. This past January, Swinney parted ways with Wes Goodwin and hired Penn State's Tom Allen to take over as defensive coordinator. The dividends of those hires — and changes — have begun to pay off.
Clemson's "Elite Retreat" weekend resulted in a surge of high-profile commitments, propelling their 2026 recruiting class to the No. 2 spot nationally, just behind USC. This impressive turnaround hasn't gone unnoticed by Pate.
In a recent discussion, he acknowledged Clemson's efforts, stating that while the program had dipped from its peak, the latest recruiting successes are a positive step towards reclaiming their top-tier status.
One Clemson fan noted that the Tigers have done a good job of keeping their culture in place, while also having the funds to compete. Dabo Swinney still boasts one of the nation's highest graduation rates — something that he is indeed proud of — and Pate acknowledged that Swinney is genuine when he says that he cares about "developing men" and not just football players.
It will be interesting to see how things continue to develop at Clemson over the coming months and years. It seems like the Tigers are back to being contenders again, but only time will tell exactly what that means.