National outlooks positive on Tigers' CFP performance, 2025 lookahead

Antonio Williams could be a centerpiece of the Tigers' 2025 attack.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Sunday, December 22 2024

Clemson's comeback bid fell short in Austin Saturday evening, but Dabo Swinney's Tigers gained some national respect from the outing in the 38-24 defeat to the 5-seed Texas Longhorns.

CBS Sports' Chip Patterson writes that the path back to elite status was revealed.

Even with the disappointing finish, the Tigers justified their appearance in the CFP -- even if it required some extremely unlikely events to go in the Tigers' favor.

So how do the Tigers go from worthy CFP participant to true national title contender? They took a step in that direction earlier this week with a pair of high-profile transfer portal additions for the 2025 roster.

Swinney has historically shied away from the portal, considering his locker room a better option to replace players. But as the landscape continues to shift, the Tigers have more roster spots to fill. That has led the Clemson coach to soften his stance on transfers. The Tigers have added a gifted wide receiver and a talented edge rusher in this portal cycle...

Clemson has built a solid foundation without the major portal overhauls we see elsewhere across the country. Swinney and his staff have traditionally been on the positive side of player evaluation and development and appear to have a large group of unique prospects who can go toe-to-toe with the most talented players in the country. That allows the Tigers to suppliment their roster with transfer talent, rather than depend on it for success...

Clemson entered 2024 fresh off its worst record since 2010 and in the midst of a three-year CFP drought. Many wondered if the program was falling behind the times as conference realignment, NIL, playoff expansion and the transfer portal brought hyperspeed changes to the sport.

But Clemson's performance on the field Saturday showed it's not a college football relic -- and they could be on a trajectory to return to elite status sooner than later.

One ESPN lookahead piece on teams eliminated from the CFP so far predicts Clemson will be the "class of the ACC" in 2025.

"This is a team that will be loaded with veterans in 2025 in a conference that is there for the taking. Anything less than 10 wins and another playoff berth would be a disappointment, but hopes will be even higher than that," said the writeup.

But that doesn't mean there aren't some questions to address:

Have we seen the last of Clemson as an elite program?

Yes, the 2024 season earned the Tigers another ACC title and returned Dabo Swinney to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020, but it was hardly the emphatic statement anyone hoped for. The Tigers backed into the ACC title game, won it on a last-second field goal, and earned its playoff invite via a guaranteed bid despite being ranked 16th by the committee. Clemson lost badly to Georgia, fell at home to Louisville, went down in crushing fashion to rival South Carolina, nearly blew a huge lead to SMU and then struggled in the playoff game against Texas.

Those are the games a program like Clemson is judged by -- the games the Tigers used to win far more often than not. But four seasons have come and gone without Clemson looking like anything close to a national title contender, and that slip from the top of the pyramid has coincided with myriad other changes in the sport. So the Tigers enter another offseason with lingering questions about their place in the larger college football ecosystem, how they'll afford to keep pace with the big boys in the SEC and whether there's still a path for them to win it all.

ESPN's Bill Connelly joins Patterson in seeing the portal additions so far of WR Tristan Smith and DE Will Heldt as bright signs for the future.

"It appears the next Clemson team we see will be a bit different. Swinney has already secured commitments from a pair of transfers -- almost literally his first dalliance with a portal that almost completely sculpted two other surprise CFP teams (Indiana and SMU)," Connelly said. "We'll see if he'll pursue any changes to a defensive coaching staff that hasn't been nearly as effective since Brent Venables' departure for Oklahoma three years ago. But even with some philosophical shifts there, one has to be excited about the upside returning in the passing game, at least if Klubnik returns, as anticipated. The junior threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns this season, and his three leading receivers were a sophomore (Antonio Williams) and two freshmen (Bryant Wesco Jr. and Saturday night star T.J. Moore). With a bit more development, Clemson will have its best receiving corps since at least 2019. Figure out how to make a few more stops, and you're in business."

This @ClemsonFB offense 👀

The 2025 season could be special for the Clemson Tigers 🐅 pic.twitter.com/jgZyyH9hLh
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) December 22, 2024