Clemson football: Tigers have plenty of things to prove

Brought you down yet? If yes, it’s probably because you were a little too high. I can’t blame you. Even though Clemson won just ten games last year, probably 75% of the polls or ratings systems seem to think Clemson will be a Top 5 team in 2022, possibly even back in the College Football Playoff.

Not to mention that Dabo Swinney is perhaps the best salesman to ever call himself a head coach. Give him ten minutes and most of us would be ready to run through a brick wall.

There is nothing wrong with getting excited. It’s fun, and a heck of a lot better than being down on the program. Clemson fans should feel good. The Tigers’ “down year” doesn’t compare to the types of seasons our rivals like Florida State and South Carolina have had in the last five years.

It’s easy to get excited, but we need to be realists, not just for ourselves, but for the coaches and the players that we hang our hopes on as fans.

I believe Swinney’s had good reasons to promote Streeter and Goodwin, but Swinney never once said it won’t take time for them to be the best they can be in their new roles.

I believe the staff have done their due diligence with both Uiagalelei and Klubnik, and that we will see improvement, but no one on staff is suggesting DJ will be the next Joe Burrow. Just because Swinney says Klubnik reminds him of Deshaun Watson doesn’t mean he expects him to play like DW right now.

The same goes for the cornerbacks and the offensive line: if we expect too much, we run the risk of souring the positive progress we probably will see because we were hoping for more. Same for the defensive line: a good line might seem like a disappointment because we convinced ourselves The Avengers would be just as good as The Power Rangers.

Clemson will be better. How much better? If the Tigers finish 10-2 with close losses to eventual ACC Champion NC State and at Notre Dame, with a chance to play in a NY6 bowl game, there will probably be a lot of fans disappointed in that performance. They shouldn’t be. There are a lot of things that have to go right for Clemson to win the ACC and/or get back to the playoffs. Maybe too many things.