Clemson football has risen to become one of the most hated programs across the country. Here are five reasons the nation loves to hate the Tigers.
The Clemson football program has beaten the odds over the last half-decade, winning two of the last three National Championships, competing in four-straight CFB Playoffs and winning four-straight ACC Championships.
Over the course of that time, the Tigers have ascended up the charts and are now considered one of the top programs in the nation.
Led by Dabo Swinney, Clemson football finished off the 2019 regular season with a perfect 12-0 record and is on pace to get back to the CFB Playoff for a fifth-straight season. In addition to winning two national titles, the Tigers have also competed in three of the last four National Championship games.
It was just a few years ago that Clemson was storming onto the scene as a potential contender along the national landscape.
There were plenty of fans across the country who were enamored with the Tajh Boyd-led Tiger teams who played at a high level and reeled off a few big wins, including games against Georgia, LSU and Ohio State.
Following Tajh Boyd came Deshaun Watson at quarterback- with a short stint of Cole Stoudt. With Watson at the helm, the Tigers achieved new heights culminating in a National Championship win over Alabama in 2016. All seemed right in the world.
Since that time, though, Clemson football hasn’t quite gotten the same welcoming attitude from the outside. The Tigers have been questioned consistently nearly on every front.
Here are five reasons the nation loves to hate Clemson.
5. Tigers play in the ACC
The ACC is always going to be hated when it comes to football. Even in 2015 when the conference was the best in every single statistical category, many looked down upon the ACC.
With programs like Clemson, Louisville, Florida State, NC State, Virginia Tech and Miami all vying for top-25 spots, the ACC was the deepest conference in the nation that season, but that still didn’t change the perception.
The perception across the nation is that the ACC year-in and year-out is an easier path to the CFB Playoff than conferences like the SEC, Big Ten or Big 12. This point has been amplified over the course of the last two seasons in which Clemson football has absolutely dominated the ACC.
There used to be a perception that the Tigers wouldn’t be prepared for postseason play because of their weak ACC schedule. Now, the excuse is that Clemson doesn’t have to play anybody, so they get to rest and remain healthy for the playoff.
Either way, one of the major knocks for Clemson football is the fact that the Tigers play in the ACC and people love to hate on them for that simple fact.
4. ‘Little ole Clemson’
Because Clemson is in the ACC and there are only a few programs in the history of the conference that have had any type of consistent success, there’s a bit of an ‘outsider’s attitude’ when it comes to Clemson.
The Tigers aren’t Ohio State, Alabama, Penn State, Auburn, LSU, Notre Dame, Texas, USC, Michigan, Florida, or any of the other perceived ‘national powerhouses’ of old.
Because of that, many look down upon the Clemson football program because of the fact it only has a couple of National Championships in its history. (As if history matters in terms of today).
These huge fanbases with nationwide support don’t like seeing their programs being consistently beaten by a University that they likely couldn’t locate on a map.
People also don’t like hearing about ‘little ole Clemson’ when the Tigers are being consistently ranked inside the top-four in the nation and competing for CFB Playoff berths year-in and year-out.
3. The slow turn on Dabo Swinney
When Dabo Swinney first took over the Clemson football program, he was this flamboyant personality that everyone loved to root for.
People across the nation couldn’t help but pull for Swinney’s flashy program and they liked the fire and emotion that he brought, both on-and-off the field.
However, as Swinney’s program continued to grow and reach new levels of success, the things he stood for- in particular his faith and the way he conducts the program in general- were looked at under a microscope.
People around the nation went from rooting for him to finding his passionate speeches and press conference gems “annoying.” In the minds of many, Swinney went from an entertaining act to an annoying supervillain out to take over the College Football world.
Some of those passionate, entertaining press conference notes are now looked at as “whining” to many across the nation.
However, the real reason many are beginning to slowly turn on Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program has to do with these next two reasons.
2. People hate dominance
More so than anything else, people love to hate winners.
The most lovable program in the nation with the nicest coach in the world will eventually have opposing fans turn on them if they win too much. For a recent example, look back at the Golden State Warriors in the NBA.
Everyone loved it when the Warriors won that first NBA Championship, but they began to hate Golden State as they continued to rack up wins and then added another star- Kevin Durant- to their roster.
The same can be said about Clemson football.
It was a welcomed change when the Tigers took down national power Alabama back in 2016 for the National Championship. Everyone loved pulling for the ‘underdog,’ led by Deshaun Watson, as the Tigers tried to pull off this seemingly improbable feat of beating Alabama.
But once Watson left the program, the nation expected Clemson to go back to what it has been doing: Potentially competing for the ACC and not being a factor in the national race.
That’s not what happened, though.
Now, the Tigers are one of, if not the top program in the nation. Clemson has made it to four-straight CFB Playoffs and has won two of the last three National Championships. People hate dynasties. They don’t like to see this program continuing to have success the way that it has over the past few seasons.
1. Clemson isn’t going anywhere
People have started to pay attention to Clemson football. There’s no doubt about that.
The Tigers have gone from being this ‘loveable underdog’ to this ‘arrogant superpower’ that needs to be knocked off its make-believe throne.
Clemson has consistently beaten the SEC, the perceived power conference. The Tigers have knocked off the likes of Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Alabama in the CFB Playoff.
As we said before: One time is fine, but no one wants to see it become a trend. Well, that’s exactly what it has become for Clemson.
The truth of the matter is that people are taking notice of Clemson and they’re starting to realize that the Tigers aren’t going away anytime soon. Clemson is in position to compete for the ACC and get back to the CFB Playoff for several more years to come.
Dabo Swinney has his program positioned to become the next Alabama- a dynasty in CFB- and people don’t want to see that.
Just as they hated Nick Saban and Alabama, they’re going to do the same with Dabo Swinney and Clemson. Though Swinney is a fun-loving coach with a great personality, people are going to continue to find ways to hate on Clemson because the Tigers are having success unlike anything we’ve ever seen and they’re not going to stop.
Our advice: Let the haters hate. Clemson football fans need to enjoy, appreciate and relish this era of success without worrying about outside influences or opinions.