Clemson football: Defense must recapture the physicality they once possessed

With questions abound, there is no denying that this is the most important summer Clemson football has ever faced in program history.

Clemson football has spent the last decade under head coach Dabo Swinney beating nearly 81 percent Tigers will have to find themselves a lot sooner in 2021.

The Tigers have a few questions to answer this summer as they attempt to win their seventh straight ACC title as well as make their seventh straight College Football Playoff. Between transfers, graduation, and those gone on to the NFL, the Tigers face tough challenges ahead this summer.

Clemson football has to find its defensive identity

Under defensive coordinator Brent Venables, the Clemson football defense has been among the best in college football. They have turned out elite defenders among their front seven and have become the best in the country at getting after the quarterback and bringing down opponents behind the line of scrimmage.

Over the last two seasons, Clemson has gotten away from that and the Tigers have gotten exposed by other elite teams like Ohio State and LSU. In their last three College Football Playoff games, Venables’s defenses have given up a combined 1,783 yards and 15 touchdowns.

If the Tigers are going to win their fourth national title in 2021, the defense cannot hemorrhage points when they face the elite program in college football and that starts this season when they face UGA in Charlotte.

That starts and ends upfront. This program has not been strong at the point of attack since losing the “power rangers” after the 2018 national title run. The talent and depth are back on the defensive line in 2021 that should allow the defense as an entire unit to get back to playing smash-mouth football.

Clemson football has not started off the season against a Top 5 opponent since they went to Athens to start the 2014 season. If that doesn’t get the attention of the players and coaches this summer, nothing will.

Many have already attempted to point to that game as if it has meaning. Other than most of the Clemson football staff, there will be no one playing in the game this season that was on either roster eight seasons ago.

The Tigers have a lot to focus on this summer as they look toward the 2021 college football season. While there are questions about the offense and replacing Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, they cannot and will not win a national title unless the defense can get back to the aspiring level of physicality they once possessed at the line of scrimmage.