Steve Spurrier Sees Clemson as Good Fit In SEC

Hall of Fame coach Steve Spurrier sees the Clemson Tigers as a good fit for the SEC.

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College football is in the midst of a major realignment, with both the SEC and Big Ten making bold moves in the past year to strengthen each conferences standing within the sport.

A year ago, Oklahoma and USC announced plans to move to the SEC. Last month, USC and UCLA finalized a deal that would send both to the Big Ten. Now, all eyes are on some of the nation's other marquee programs, including Clemson, and where the Tigers might end up when the dust settles.

In recent weeks, speculation has run rampant regarding where Clemson might end up, with one possibility being the SEC. Hall of Fame coach Steve Spurrier recently told USA Today, he thinks that the conference would be the right fit for the Tigers, saying the program already resembles an SEC program and has since he began his head coaching career at Duke.

“When I coached at Duke, Clemson was actually like an SEC school in the ACC,” Spurrier said. “That was before FSU, Syracuse and Virginia Tech (joined the ACC). When you played Clemson, they looked like SEC guys.” 

Spurrier, who won a national title as head coach at Florida, spent the latter part of his career coaching the rival South Carolina Gamecocks, meaning he's plenty familiar with the Clemson program of today. However, it's those Clemson teams from the Danny Ford era that really stick out.

“Their defensive guys were a little bit bigger, a little bit faster,” Spurrier said of Clemson’s ‘80s teams. “They just lined up and tried to smash you. That was their style of offense.”

If Clemson were to make a move, one to the SEC might make the most sense, especially when considering it from a geographic perspective. The Tigers also appear to not only be a good fit from a culture standpoint but also based on results on the field. Dabo Swinney's program is the only program outside of Alabama to win multiple national titles in the College Football Playoff era.

“They certainly could slide right into the SEC,” Spurrier said. 

The Tigers, who went 10-3 in 2021 and finished 14th in the final Associated Press Poll, are the fourth team on FanDuel Sportsbook's list to win it all in 2022.

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