As Clemson enters its second bye week of the season, it’s been eliminated from all championship races in 2025. The Tigers fell far from expectations early on and can’t dig themselves out of the hole. The loss to SMU last weekend shut the door on any run that could have put Clemson back into the ACC championship race.
Now, the team has to reconcile with this season being the worst the Tigers have had since 2010. Dabo Swinney will have to do lots of evaluating over the next few weeks. He needs to figure out how to get his program back in the direction of winning championships.
Preparing Young Players
Sitting at 3-4 and 10th in the ACC is not ideal for what this Clemson team expected to be. The one good thing that comes out of it, though, is the chance to get young players more in-game opportunities. These games in the second half of the season don’t hold as much weight with the Tigers out of the conference championship and playoff race. So, it’s a great time to get a few younger guys some more experience.
For some guys, their best development will come with in-game reps. For others, it’s time to see if they actually have what it takes to compete at this level. There is no reason now to wait until a potential bowl game to give more reps to the likes of Gideon Davidson, David Eziomume, or Amare Adams, to name a few. Even finding ways to get Christopher Vizzina on the field more when Cade Klubnik gets back will be beneficial.
Don’t just save these added reps for game day either. Mix up some groupings in practice to give some of the younger talent reps against the starters. Start to get a peek at what the future holds with the players currently on the roster. Many of the starters are likely moving on after this season. It’s time to get the next group of talent ready to step into larger roles.
Evaluating Position Groups
Something that Swinney needs to seriously get a head start on this bye week is evaluating the talent in each position group. Swinney started to dip his toe in the portal last offseason, when he brought in three impactful transfers. This offseason, it’s time for him to jump all the way in.
It doesn’t need to be a complete overhaul of the roster. Just enough to raise the competition level inside the building. There doesn’t seem to be enough guys being kept on their toes about staying at the top of the depth chart. If Swinney hits the portal this offseason harder than he has in the past, it will serve as a wake-up call to those still on the roster.
For the last few years, the starting spots at many positions were handed to whoever had been around the longest. The days of waiting for your turn to be given the number one spot need to be over. The staff needs to make the players earn the starting job each week. That starts with bringing in more talent that can challenge those already in the building.
This season, the Tigers looked complacent since the second half of the LSU game. If Swinney wants to get back to winning more championships like he promised, he needs to create more competition.
Get the Coaching Staff on the Same Page
For any of this to have an effect, the whole coaching staff has to be on the same page. Everyone has to know what to look for and how to get everyone in the room to compete. There are too many veteran coaches on staff who’ve had success to not always have the best players on the field, playing to their potential on every snap.
Names like Chris Rumph, Mike Reed, Tom Allen, Garrett Riley, and Matt Luke being a part of this staff need to have more of a positive impact. Recruiting needs to improve, game planning needs to be better, and there needs to be more of an effort to use talent in ways that allow their abilities to shine.
Changes in the Clemson program need to be made from top to bottom after the failure of this season. This week of reflections should be used to begin setting those improvement plans in motion.
Main Image: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
