Clemson Tigers Will Have Huge Expectations Heading Into Next Football Season

The Clemson Tigers football team is set up well heading into the 2025 season.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) hands the ball off to running back Keith Adams Jr. (19) during the game against the Texas Longhorns in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers faced a lot of scrutiny throughout the 2024 college football season.

There were discussions early on after a blowout loss at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs that they were no longer a top program in the nation.

Dabo Swinney’s reluctance and downright refusal to use the transfer portal was leaving them behind other top programs in the country.

But, the Tigers were able to quiet some of those doubters throughout the campaign, as they had an impressive six-game winning streak that included some explosive offensive performances.

Alas, it was far from the normal level of consistency that's been seen from Clemson throughout Swinney’s tenure as head coach.

A home loss against the Louisville Cardinals seemed to have ended their ACC championship chances with the Miami Hurricanes and SMU Mustangs ahead of them and their College Football Playoff hopes looked to be dashed when they lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks during rivalry week.

But, despite those shortcomings, the team ended up in both.

Miami's loss to the Syracuse Orange the final week of the regular season pushed the Tigers into the ACC title game where they defeated SMU to give themselves an automatic bid into the CFP where they were defeated by the Texas Longhorns in the first round.

There is plenty of work to do with the roster, as their two most talented opponents, Georgia and Texas, handled them with relative ease.

However, expectations are going to be high in 2025 for this program.

As David Hale of ESPN shared, they can still be the cream of the crop in their conference with a talented roster heading into next year.

“Clemson is still the class of the ACC, and with a number of stars -- Cade Klubnik, Sammy Brown, Parker and Woods among them -- expected back in 2025, that should remain true moving forward. Swinney is finally digging into the portal too, which only benefits the Tigers. 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.”

It is certainly odd to see the Tigers ranked behind schools such as Duke and Syracuse in the ACC recruiting power rankings, but this is going to be a veteran-laden team with legitimate stars coming back on both sides of the ball.

Cade Klubnik looked like the kind of player a program expects from a five-star recruit. Bryant Wesco Jr. was one of the best offensive freshmen in the country and two highly touted high school recruits will help replace Phil Mafah in the backfield.

Defensively, linebacker Sammy Brown is a star in the making.

The team is loaded with high-end talent in the trenches with Peter Woods, T.J. Parker and Purdue Boilermakers transfer Will Heldt.

Expect them to be near the top of the conference once again in 2025 as Swinney continues to adjust to the new landscape of college football.