Clemson football: All-time Tigers great won’t be eligible for CFBHOF

Clemson football quarterback Trevor Lawrence could go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks all-time and never be enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Because of how Clemson football playing time has evolved under head coach Dabo Swinney, Lawrence may not play enough in order to meet one key requirement needed by the College Football Hall of Fame needed in order to be inducted.

If you are unfamiliar with the College Football Hall of Fame requirements, here they are:

"First and foremost, a player must have received First-Team All-America recognition by a selector organization that is recognized by the NCAA and utilized to comprise their consensus All-America teams."

"A player becomes eligible for consideration by the Foundation’s honors courts 10 years after his final year of intercollegiate football played."

"While each nominee’s football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed.  He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community and fellow man.  Consideration may also be given for academic honors and whether or not the candidate earned a college degree."

"Players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years*.  For example, to be eligible for the 2014 ballot, the player must have played his last year in 1964 or thereafter. In addition, players who are playing professionally and coaches who are coaching on the professional level are not eligible until after they retire."

The first key element is what we are referring to, “a player must have received First-Team All-America recognition by a selector organization that is recognized by the NCAA”.

Clemson football has evolved over the last several years

This is one of the few faults with how Coach Swinney has evolved over the last few years with this “everyone plays” mantra. Yes, it is great to see hard-working young players get rewarded and to take snaps in games but it also comes at the detriment to the all-time greats that are on this roster.

Trevor Lawrence is 25-1 as a starting quarterback at Clemson but has not sniffed an All-American team because he plays just 2.5 quarters a game. Lawrence could realistically go 40-1 as a starter, win three ACC titles, lead the Tigers to three National title appearances and win two of them, but will NEVER be eligible for CFB-HOF.

This is not new information, this is why Deshaun Watson lost the Heisman to Lamar Jackson and why Joe Burrow won it in 2019. Both quarterbacks padded stats in the second half of blow out games while Clemson chooses to build depth and reward with playing time.

While some may view this as a complaint, I am simply pointing out that this method, will keep Travis Etienne from breaking every college football rushing record and will ultimately keep Trevor Lawrence from the College Football Hall of Fame when he retires in order to make sure that backup gets in a few reps against FSU, Louisville, NC State, and South Carolina.