Clemson football still a force on the recruiting trail and on field

The death of the Clemson football dynasty has been greatly exaggerated over the last couple of seasons as the Tigers have failed to make the College Football Playoff.

When we’re young, we tend to focus on the here and now and ignore the long-term trends and cycles that happen, whether in sports or life in general.

Fact is, Alabama hasn’t always been good at football. Southern Cal was once dominant.  Texas won a National Championship (quit laughing). People used to think Notre Dame was special and, yes, kids, Miami was once a dynasty.

Look it up.

College football, like most of life, runs in cycles.  Some cycles last longer than others.

It’s easy to focus on the recruits that got away and the games that weren’t won and I’ve been as guilty as most on that subject over the years, but if you step back and look at Clemson’s results both on the recruiting trail and on the field over the last 5 seasons, there are few teams that have succeeded at the Tigers level.

As a matter of fact, I’d argue only two – Alabama and Georgia.

The rest of the teams listed on the graphic above have 1 National Championship combined, despite the slobbering over them by the media.

Some haven’t won playoff games.  Some haven’t even been to the playoff.  A couple don’t have a conference championship.

I lived in Texas the last time the Longhorns won the National Championship and the level of excitement was unbelievable among Longhorn faithful.

There was talk of something called The Longhorn Network that was going to change the game and with all the recruits in the state, Texas would be the dominant team in college football for the foreseeable future.

What could go wrong?

Don’t just hold my beer, hold my 12-pack.

When Clemson won the National Championship in 2016 I ran around the house trying to explain what this meant to my family.  I recall telling my wife, “This will probably never happen again in my lifetime!”

Then it happened two years later, and I began to get greedy, thinking it was going to be on the regular.

Hold my beer.

Clemson football has been so good that 11-3 and a conference championship is considered a failure

If a down cycle is 11-3, I’ll take that.  I’ve lived long enough to recall a down year being 3-8.

Maybe next year, Clemson slips down that list a bit and maybe in two years the Tigers aren’t even on the list, I don’t know.

Things change.  Cycles come and go.  Ask my Longhorn friends.

I know one thing, though. They’d trade spots with me in a second, we’ve had an incredible LAST 10 YEARS, when 128 other teams are trying to have just one incredible year.

These are the good old days of Clemson football.