After a 2025 season in which Clemson came up to its lowest win total in 15 years, the national media is cautiously hopeful — though mostly curious — as to what Dabo Swinney has in store for an encore.
Athlon Sports has the Tigers at No. 4 in the conference in their 2026 ACC Power Rankings, a year after they hit new goals and swelled the teams’ coffers. And while a top-four rank in a ranking tends to be the signal of a competitor, it’s a significant drop for a program that began viewing the No. 1 spot as a birthright.
The Tigers currently rank behind Miami (No. 1), Louisville (No. 2), and SMU (No. 3). Athlon’s Steven Lassan said the 7-6 campaign of 2025 was “one of college football’s biggest disappointments.”
To amend the slide, Swinney has pressed reset on offense.
The 2026 season will officially mark the start of the Christopher Vizzina era at quarterback, where this up-and-coming blue-chip recruit is set to replace the departing Cade Klubnik. Maybe more importantly, Vizzina will be under the guidance of new play-caller Chad Morris, who is coming back to Clemson attempting to regain the range of attack that characterized his first season in Tigertown.
“The Tigers have more question marks entering ‘26 than in recent seasons,” Lassan wrote. But the cupboard is not empty. Athlon thinks he can plug that hole to sophomore player T.J. Moore, who may be the ACC’s top receiver, and that the defense may have to tighten around star linebacker Sammy Brown and end Will Heldt.
If the Tigers are going to climb back up to the top of the mountain, they will have to do so against the conference’s best.
The 2026 schedule is packed with “prove-it” games:
Marquee Home Games: Miami (Oct. 3), Virginia Tech (Oct. 24), North Carolina (Sept. 19).
Critical Road Tests: Florida State (Oct. 31), Cal (Sept. 25), Duke (Nov. 21).
Athlon also named Clemson among the “most intriguing teams” in the country in 2026. The story is clear: with a new quarterback, a familiar offensive architect and a fan that is desperate to not have forgotten about a seven-win season, Clemson is this wild card.
Whether the "good mojo" that came back after Brent Venables’s visit last fall and the infusion of new talent can lead to a 10-win season is the big question in the ACC.