It’s a weird thing to say when talking about Clemson football, but there’s been a fair amount of dread going around the last two seasons.
Sure, the fans still pulled for their beloved Tigers, there’s no doubt about that, but deep down inside most knew it was a flawed team, even if it had some excellent pieces.
Use whatever term to describe the offense that fits your personality.
Stale. Predictable. Boring. Some even chose much more descriptive terms, if you know what I mean.
The point is, there was a time when you KNEW the offense would put points on the board, come up clutch and win the game.
The last two seasons we have HOPED that would occur.
Sometimes hope worked and sometimes hope let us down.
What’s the old saying? Hope is not a plan.
Dabo Swinney had a plan while others thought he was just hoping. Swinney knew changes needed to be made, but he took the in-season heat, did his homework and put his plan in place, while the talking heads lambasted him as backward, tone-deaf and stubborn.
The result of that plan has turned the fan base around and has them looking more forward to the spring game than I can remember in quite a while, but more importantly, looking forward to next fall with optimism.
I can see it on this website., with John Chancey writing about which players will benefit the most and Houston Burnett telling us it’s time to reimagine what the offense can be.
Twitter polls are useless and fascinating at the same time. I don’t think I could get 97% of Clemson fans to agree on anything, but here we are:
Have your expectations for Clemson football in 2023 increased with hire of Garrett Riley?
— Rubbing The Rock (@RubbingTheRock) January 16, 2023
The expectations for Clemson football have risen for 2023, now Garrett Riley must deliver
With great expectations comes great responsibility, but the fact remains that Clemson fans see the Riley hire as bettering the team and increasing the expectations.
This part of Dabo Swinney’s plan has worked out perfectly, but the real question won’t be answered until we see results in the fall.
The fans are expecting big things, now Riley must deliver.