Clemson football: 2021 Preseason Coaches’ Poll shows respect for Tigers

The Clemson football team enters the 2021 season as a bit of an ‘underdog’ compared to years past when you listen to the chatter surrounding the Tigers and the expectations coming from national analysts.

That being said, the USA Today Coaches Preseason Top 25 poll was released on Tuesday and there’s still a lot of love being shown to the Tigers from coaches around the country.

Clemson is ranked No. 2 in the nation, according to the Coaches’ Poll. The Tigers didn’t receive any first place votes and Alabama— who is ranked No. 1– received all but two first place votes, which went to Oklahoma.

There’s still a respect pertaining to the power of the Clemson football program

When you look at what the coaches are saying when they make their poll, it’s clear that there is a massive amount of respect pertaining to the Tigers.

Though many national analysts think Clemson might have a down year, the coaches still respect the power of the brand and the way that Dabo Swinney has built the program.

When looking at the top-10, there are some intriguing names once you get past five. Texas A&M and Notre Dame– as they always do– are getting the benefit of the doubt based off their name recognition rather than anything to do with football reasons.

You could likely make an argument that Iowa State should be higher and, honestly, I believe that we could see North Carolina finish higher than that No. 9 preseason ranking.

The only other team from the ACC ranked inside the top-25 is Miami at No. 16. Don’t be surprised to see a few teams like Boston College, NC State and Virginia also make a run at the rankings over the course of the season.

Just for reference, since there are already people who are complaining, Dabo Swinney isn’t voting in the Coaches’ Poll this year. The poll is comprised of 65 FBS coaches and it is done on a rotating basis.