Clemson football: It’s ‘gut check’ time for the Tigers as a program

The Clemson football team fell to a miserable 2-2 on the season following an overtime loss to the N.C. State Wolfpack on Saturday in Raleigh.

The Tigers, who had fringe hopes of still making the CFB Playoff in 2021, saw those hopes fly completely out of the window and now they’re on the outside-looking in to even make the ACC Championship game.

What doesn’t make the situation any better is the fact that Clemson suffered significant injuries to some of its top players, including Will Shipley, Bryan Bresee and James Skalski. While the timeline for those recoveries haven’t been officially announced, from what we’ve heard at this point, Clemson football fans should probably expect at least a couple to be season-ending.

It’s ‘gut-check’ for the Clemson football program

There are Clemson fans who will be upset that anything is being questioned here and they’ll talk about how they were around in the 1990s when Tommy West was losing games every week and that somehow makes them real fans.

Well, I’ve got a question for you if you fall in that boat: Do you want to go back to that point?

It’s not unreasonable for fans to question what is unfolding in front of their eyes. The signs of regression and complacency in this program have been seen– at least subtly– since that 2019 loss to LSU and they’ve just been covered by winning.

So, now here we are.

There’s no doubt that Dabo Swinney is one of the best coaches in the nation, but it’s gut-check time for him and his entire program. It’s gut-check for that entire offensive staff and how they respond.

Is Clemson willing to adapt or are the Tigers going to stay stuck in their archaic state? Robert Griffin III had a lot to say about those play-calls during the broadcast, by the way, if you want to hear an expert opinion on what is happening with the Tiger offense.

Nick Saban’s ‘gut-check’ came a couple of years ago following a 44-16 loss to Clemson in the National Championship and then his team missed the CFB Playoff in 2019. Dabo Swinney is about to be in a similar situation.

Will he adapt and make changes– schematically, philosophically and potentially even on his staff– or will he continue to try and do things the same way?

There’s no doubt in my mind that Swinney and this Clemson football program can learn a lot from 2021 and that they can come back better, but it’s going to take them first taking a long look in the mirror and admitting that things need to change.

Luckily, Swinney at least admitted as much in his postgame press conference.

You may not like where the program is at currently, but there is hope for tomorrow. Right now, though, the Tigers are facing a ‘gut-check’ and how they respond will tell us more about the future of this program than anything else.