Clemson football is no longer a college football pretender.
Like life, college football is cyclical and every program has its ebbs and flows. However, every once in awhile, you have a program establish itself as the true dominant power and Clemson football is firmly in that spot.
Go back over the last 50 years of football and most teams don’t have staying power. They have a few years of high-level success which may include a national title or just a national title appearance but nothing truly sustainable.
For the last decade, Alabama has asserted itself as a true dynasty in the world of college football, and no matter the turnover, the Tide keep marching.
After several years of double-digit wins and being the cute underdog story, Clemson football under Dabo Swinney has asserted itself as the dominant kid on the block and isn’t just the annoying little brother that landed a lucky punch.
As good as the Tigers have been, they are getting better. Name a program that has played for four national titles in five seasons, won two of them and the roster has gotten even better…
I’ll wait.
Clemson football sustained success is rare.
The fact is you cannot. One, not many programs have experienced the type of success that Clemson has, and two, normally by year five of elite success, most programs have cycled out. The only program in the country that can even insert itself into the conversation is Alabama.
As much success as Ohio State has had, they have only played for four national titles in the last 50 years and won just two of them. Clemson has done that in the last five years. UGA hasn’t been truly relevant since the early 80s, sure they may spike every now and then but nothing sustainable. LSU has had a lot of success over the last 20 years but still, they have not had a run like either Alabama or Clemson.
The fact is Clemson football has moved from pretender to Cinderella to the king of college football and that train doesn’t seem to be running out of track anytime soon – much to the dismay of the college football media that can’t write enough negative things about Clemson or Coach Swinney.