Clemson Football: The one transition left in building an elite program

Clemson football is the second-most elite program in the nation. Here’s the one transition left for the Tigers to make to be on the level of Alabama.

Clemson football has won a National Championship.

The Tigers are the overwhelming favorite every single year to win the ACC. Clemson has been to the College Football Playoff three-consecutive years.

Clemson is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation and is one of two favorites to win the National Championship this year.

While Alabama has clearly had the most success of any program in the nation, Clemson remains squarely behind the Crimson Tide looking to become the next dynasty in College Football. The Tigers have done it a different way.

While Nick Saban has built a program based on winning and focused on the results, Dabo Swinney has encouraged fun and given an excitement to his kids unlike anything else across the nation. Both have garnered championship-level results.

But, when you look at the two powerhouse programs, there is one transition that Clemson football must make to be on the same level as Alabama and it has nothing to do with recruiting, play style or facilities.

In-Game Philosophy…

I don’t want anyone to take this as a criticism of Clemson’s coaches or its program. As I’ve already said, the Tigers have an elite program and will have nothing but upward trajectory going forward.

But, the biggest transition that I want to see Clemson make is playing to win, rather than playing not to lose.

You’ve seen it time and time again. Auburn last season and in 2016. Texas A&M last week. Even Florida State, NC State and Louisville at times.And then, of course, you’ve got the losses to teams like Pittsburgh and Syracuse, as well as Alabama for that matter.

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In many of those games, Clemson never cut it loose. It seemed the Tigers, especially on offense, were just content with punting the ball away and letting the defense play a ton of snaps. Then, what would happen next?

The defense would break down in the fourth quarter, giving up a ton of yards before coming up with a heroic stop to put the game away. Or, in some cases- see Syracuse and Pittsburgh- they couldn’t come up with that stop and the offense couldn’t come up with a score.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Alabama has lost plenty of games, as well. The Crimson Tide lost to Auburn last season and shouldn’t have even been in the College Football Playoff if you were just going be resume.

They’ve had match ups where the game was closer than it should’ve been and even have been upset a time or two (Ole Miss in 2014, 15). But, it’s a different feel that I get.

To me, the biggest transition Clemson must make is playing to win and learning how to close out an opponent. The Tigers had a ton of chances Saturday night to close out Texas A&M and put an end to the game, but they didn’t and it could’ve resulted in a loss. The same can be said about the past games against teams like Auburn, Florida State and Louisville.

I know that you have to give credit to some of those programs for putting up a fight and the same goes for the Aggies. But, let’s be honest here.

Clemson was clearly the better team and just didn’t play up to their talent level. Instead, they played down to their opponent and that’s got to change.

Early Vegas Odds vs. Georgia Southern. dark. Next

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m undervaluing some of these teams that the Tigers have played. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always happy with a win. But it seems to me that it’s time to take that next step forward and, in order to do that, you’ve got to put teams away when you have a chance instead of letting them creep back into the game and giving them a chance to win late.

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