Five reasons to be optimistic about Clemson football moving forward in 2021
The 2020 Clemson football season didn’t end as we all would’ve hoped.
The Tigers hoped to get back to the National Championship game and compete another title, but their road was stopped short following a 49-28 blowout at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Now, with Ohio State and Alabama advancing on to the National Title game and Clemson football sitting at home, many fans are content to wallow in self pity and simply try to forget the CFB Playoff ever happened.
We will have plenty of time to talk about all the issues. There’s clearly got to be development along the lines of scrimmage and in the defensive backfield in the future. There has to be a different sense of urgency that just seemed to be lacking at times. But we’re going to put those aspects on hold for today.
Here’s a look at five reasons why optimism should be heavy in Clemson football circles moving into 2021.
5. D.J. Uiagalelei is more than capable
There are some who believe D.J. Uiagalelei could be better than Trevor Lawrence and in the spurts that we saw him this season, there is one thing we all can agree upon: He’s more than capable.
Uiagalelei has a smoothness to his passes unlike anyone I’ve seen in a long time. He is a big body and has great athleticism.
Give him an offseason’s time to continue to learn the system and become the sole leader of this offense and you’ve got a dangerous weapon at quarterback.
Clemson will always miss Trevor Lawrence, but don’t think for one second that his replacement doesn’t have the ability to cheer Tiger fans up real quick.
4. Recruiting is at an all-time high
Clemson football isn’t going anywhere because the coaching staff continues to stay intact and recruiting is at an all-time high.
Here’s a look at the last four recruiting classes and where they landed in the 247 Sports Composite Team Rankings:
- 2018: No. 7
- 2019: No. 10
- 2020: No. 3
- 2021: No. 4
Dabo Swinney has coached this program up well past its recruiting rankings in the past and now he’s getting the kind of talent that is vaulting this group inside the top-five and even higher depending on which recruiting service you use.
3. 2021 team is more complete than this year
Yes, the Tigers are going to lose some talent, but I want you to think about who’s returning next year.
You’ve got basically your entire defensive line returning. The majority of the secondary will return (and hopefully they’ll be developed further). You’ve got a stable of talented running backs and wide receiver.
The offensive line will have more experience, a chance to develop and there will be more depth with that group than ever before.
These 4-stars and 5-stars that we’ve seen Clemson gain commitments from over the last few years are going to grow up and this 2021 team has the potential to reach heights that might’ve been past the ceiling of the 2020 team.
2. There will be a different sense of motivation
No one likes to be completely blown off the field on the biggest stage of them all like Clemson football was this past year.
Remember when the Tigers used their losses to Alabama in years past?
It seemed as if the loss to LSU wasn’t used near as much for motivation as we thought it would be coming into this season and it almost feels like the team just showed up many weeks expecting to win and just going through the motions.
That won’t be the case now.
They’re going to have an entire offseason of hearing how bad they were. They’re going to use that Ohio State loss as motivation and I think we’re going to see a team come out looking to prove themselves this next season.
1. Great programs respond to adversity
More than anything, great programs respond to adversity.
Do you remember just a couple of years ago when people were saying that there were ‘kinks’ in the armor of Alabama? How did the Crimson Tide respond? Well, they’ve been the nation’s most dominant team this year and are competing for another National Championship.
That’s exactly what needs to happen with this Clemson football program and there’s no reason to think that it won’t.
There’s work to be done and Dabo Swinney knows it. There’s a new level of physicality that this program needs to meet. There’s going to be plenty of external noise.
That being said, great programs respond to adversity and that’s exactly what Clemson football is: A great program.