Clemson football is still about five months away from kickoff, but the 2025 season is already becoming one of the most anticipated in recent memory, fresh off a playoff berth.
While this playoff berth was nice, especially after a little drought, it was because of the expanded 12-team playoff. Still, the Tigers won the ACC and fell short against Texas in its first College Football Playoff game, 38-24. Clemson made some changes this offseason, making a key move to land Tom Allen as the team's defensive coordinator and Dabo Swinney even utilized the transfer portal.
We're going to see the Tigers start the season as ACC title favorites once again, and while it's good to have expectations, it's also important to have the right mindset.
Clemson has the right mindset.
In fact, Peter Woods spoke to the media earlier this week and said something that caught my attention. Woods said that he showed up at 4:30 a.m. for his 5:30 a.m. workout with Jeremiah Alexander and TJ Parker and his reason was fantastic.
Woods said that "if you're on time, you're late. If you're early, you're on time.?
Peter Woods on his 4:30 a.m. arrival for 5:30 a.m. workouts with Jeremiah Alexander and TJ Parker.
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) March 29, 2025
"If you're on time, you’re late. If you’re early, you’re on time ... That's how we're wired and going about our business this year."
This is the perfect title mentality and business mindset. You won't see many college athletes speak like this and not just talk the talk, but also walk the walk. Showing up at 4:30 a.m. for a workout an hour later is something that you'd have to convince most college athletes to do, but not these Clemson football players.
It feels like the mindset is reset this offseason and the team is all buying in. These guys want to get the program back to the top and thinking this way is a good start.