Saturday, the Clemson Tiger's 2024 season came to a close with a 38-24 loss to Texas in Austin. Though the Tigers reached the College Football Playoff in a year in which most counted them out during the regular season, just getting into the field is not the bar for this program. Thus, even though Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said he was proud of his team's effort, he still referred to the game as a "disappointing night".
"We'll build on this," Swinney said following the defeat. "It's a great experience for our guys. They know they're good enough. Most of our team is back. You saw the heart of our quarterback, how about that guy? Just incredible, incredible leadership in the locker room. I wish everybody could experience what I just experienced in the locker room, the leadership of our guys. How much they love each other.
"It's pretty special. Again it stinks, but we'll build on this. This will be just another step in the direction that we want to go to get back to the top of the mountain. You've got to put yourself in position. We did that. You've got to learn and grow, we'll do that.
"The example that was set by these seniors, again listening to them all year, all year reading their comments, it's been amazing. Coming to work every single day has been an absolute joy and blessing. I promise you, the example that they set for these guys coming back, it will not be wasted. Those guys will build upon that. I've already seen that in the locker room.
"Again, disappointing night. Great win for Texas. Wish them all the best."
After seeing Texas rack up 494 yards of total offense, including 292 on the ground, many Clemson fans are fed up with defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin. Knowing that, the media asked Swinney if he planned to make any staff changes this offseason.
"We're not worried about any of that stuff," he said. "We had a great year, won the championship. Got to improve in all areas. Got an excellent staff. All those guys work really hard and well together, but we've got to improve everywhere. If we want to get to the top. Good enough to get the playoff, good enough to win the league, not good enough to win it all."
Swinney was then asked about the resilience of his team. After falling behind 31-10, the Tigers fought back to cut the deficit to 31-24 before seeing Texas put the game away with a 77-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter. Swinney talked about the resilience that his team showed not only on Saturday but throughout an up-and-down 2024 season.
"Those are lessons that you hope that you learn from the game, first of all," he said. "Not saying to get knocked down, but you've got to keep going. You hope that especially young people those are lessons that you can learn because you need that in life. It can't always go the way you want. We have setbacks. We have disappointments. It was just an awesome thing to go through the season.
"I really truly mean that. I'm so grateful for this year's journey, really grateful. If I had one word, it's grateful. To get a chance to do life with this team. There was not a day where I didn't enjoy coming to work with our players, where I didn't enjoy coming to work with our players.
"The leaders, these guys are going to do amazing things. They are going to do amazing things. It's a blessing to be able to see that, see resilience and see resolve. Those are things that will serve them well for the rest of their life."
There will be plenty of time to look back on the 2024 season as well as analyze where the Tigers go from here as they try to get back to the top of the college football hierarchy. Saturday's showing was a valiant effort given that Clemson entered the road game as the largest underdog of any team playing in the first-round games.
Still, the Tigers have higher aspirations than just putting forth a solid effort against teams such as Texas. The bar for this program is winning National Championships. Unfortunately, though, another season has passed without Clemson being a legitimate contender for the game's ultimate prize.
That's why, despite the way Swinney painted his team's performance in his postgame remarks, the most accurate statement made was that it was truly a "disappointing night" for all associated with the Tigers. Now, it will be interesting to see how the man in charge goes about trying to put his team back on top over the course of this offseason.