Clemson Football: Playcalling must improve in 2023

Recently I reflected on a question posed by Nachos & Analysis on Twitter about which Clemson Football coach did the best job this season.

I started my thought process by considering how both sides of the ball progressed from 2021 to 2022. I think the work put in during the offseason should be a big component of assessing a coach’s performance.

When I reviewed the differences in Clemson’s offense from the 2021 season to 2022, I saw a notable improvement in most of the major offensive categories. I think Brandon Streeter deserves a lot of credit for this.

The other side of assessing a coordinator’s season is their in-game performance. There have been a lot of criticisms of Streeter’s playcalling from Clemson fans. Probably the most common criticism I have seen is the failure to put the ball in the hands of the running backs, specifically in the hands of Will Shipley.

This was a big sticking point for Tiger faithful following the loss to South Carolina when Shipley hardly touched the football in the second half.

Some of those criticisms of Streeter died down a bit after the victory against North Carolina, despite the offense never getting the ground attack going. Clemson ran for a total of 68 yards.

It’s easy to overlook underutilizing the best player on the offense when they win, but when they lose, it’s going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Clemson did put the ball in Shipley’s hands much more often in the 2nd half of the Orange Bowl, and I don’t think it had anything to do with my tweet.

Swinney and Streeter deserve credit for adjusting, but why on Earth does it take until half-time for them to figure out that they need to give the ball to their best offensive player?

Why would you have Cade Klubnik throw the ball 54 times in a game when you have Shipley and Phil Mafah in the backfield?

There are reasons I can think of that might distract the offensive staff when assembling the game plan. Tennessee’s pass defense had been atrocious – it makes sense to try to attack that. It also makes sense that you would likely have more success if the corners and safeties had to be keenly aware of the running game.

Playcalling must improve for Clemson Football to achieve their goals in 2023

If you also told me that they weren’t 100% confident the offensive line would hold up, I couldn’t argue with you about that, especially having seen their performance Friday night. I still think it makes sense to try to build an attack around Shipley, then try to take advantage when the opponent loads the box.

I’m not inside the building, but from my vantage point, I think Streeter and the staff are probably over-thinking themselves into some bad strategies.

I still think Streeter did a good job this season, and I think the calls for Swinney to dismiss him in favor of a new play caller are extreme. I understand fans are hot because of the recent loss, but I’m looking at the aforementioned improvements over the 2021 season as much as the last game out. The Streeter hate has gotten ridiculous.

The questionable game plans and in-game decision-making are what prevent me from saying Streeter did a great job this season. I am hopeful that he sees the room for improvement when he does a post-mortem on his 2022 performance. He can’t lose sight of his team’s strengths when scheming for the opponent’s weaknesses.