FOX's Klatt sees "clear personnel issue at Clemson," sees program in danger of falling off |
FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt weighed in on what he sees as systemic issues with the Clemson football program.
There has been no shortage of reactions to the Tigers' 28-7 loss at previously unranked Duke on Monday, and Klatt points how Clemson has constructed its roster. "The fact remains, they have not been recruiting at the same level," Klatt said. "Alright, a lot of factors in that. Their personnel right now is not where it needs to be on the field. They have not acquired the talent nor developed the talent to play at the upper echelons of college football – because that’s the expectation, right? For Clemson, I think that it is, particularly if you have a track record of two national titles since 2015 and six-straight Playoffs from 2015 to 2020. That’s what we expect. “I think it's clear, painfully, that Clemson has both failed to adapt on and off the field. Dabo is unapologetically against NIL and transfer portal. Completely against it. Will not embrace it. He has been so public against it that it's going to end up hurting him, because the fanbase, if you’re a Clemson fan you’re like, ‘Hold on, you can’t play Monopoly and decided on your own that you’re not going to buy any houses on property you own because you don’t think it’s right.’ While everybody else buys houses. You’re gonna lose. There’s no other way around that. "You can stand on principle, or in this case, his principle, which by the way, none of it is against the rules. It’s his principle." While transfer portal usage has been limited, Swinney has said that he will use it when he sees it is necessary, and he is also on the record for saying they have extended portal offers that were not accepted (cornerback and offensive line being two positions in recent years for those offers that were reported). Swinney has also not had any definitive statements against NIL and Clemson has partnered with multiple NIL organizations for its athletes. He did make past statements about not being for institutions themselves paying players and turning college sports into a more NFL-like arrangement. Klatt still says that without some changes, Clemson will follow the steps of past top programs such as Nebraska into irrelevancy. "You will lose. It’s really a bottomline proposition and we’ve seen this time after time after time in the history of college football," Klatt said. "I think it's clear, painfully, that Clemson has both failed to adapt on and off the field."@JoelKlatt dissects why Clemson has fallen from the mountaintop of elite college football programs ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/iHOHhoY6aP
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