Clemson Football: Is UNC developing into legitimate competition?
The Clemson football program has dominated the ACC for the better part of the past half-decade. Could there be some competition forming in the future?
The Clemson football program has won five-straight ACC Championships dating back to the 2015 season and it doesn’t seem like the Tigers are going anywhere anytime soon.
In that same time span, Dabo Swinney’s team has competed in five CFB Playoffs, won two National Titles and played in the big game four times.
While Clemson football has surged to the top of the College Football world, the ACC has seemingly been trending in the opposite direction for the past few years. The conference has not been able to develop any kind of legitimate competition for the Tigers and, as a result, has taken a hit in the past few seasons.
As we look ahead to the 2020 season, though, there’s a program on the horizon that looks as if it could be preparing to at least become a legitimate opponent for the Tigers.
That program is the North Carolina Tarheels.
We all remember what happened when Clemson football traveled to Chapel Hill this past season. The Tigers were given all they could handle, were outplayed and out-coached. In the end, Clemson held on for a 21-20 victory.
It’s not just about that game in 2019, though.
Mack Brown has this fanbase, his players and his coaching staff believing that they can become the class of the ACC Coastal. While Brown likely doesn’t plan to coach for the long-term, he could still build the Tarheel program up and make a run or two in the next half-decade.
UNC looks like a program who could overtake the ACC Coastal Division. The Tarheels finished the 2020 recruiting cycle ranked No. 19 in the nation and No. 3 in the ACC. UNC is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation for the 2021 cycle and No. 2 in the ACC, just behind the Tigers.
The recruiting is trending upwards and Mack Brown has done a great job getting his staff in place and developing during his short time with the Tarheels.
Next. Upwards trend in recruiting the difference for Clemson. dark
Will it be enough to overtake Clemson football? Probably not. But UNC could potentially become solid competition in the future and give some legitimacy to the Tigers’ schedule as they look to continue their CFB Playoff runs in the future.