Breath of fresh air has Tigers expecting a return to National Championship

Swinney and the Tigers are in the hunt for another title.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Aug 23 12:00:14 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – There has been a sense of confidence surrounding the Clemson football program the last few months, and that feeling has only escalated during fall camp. That has led to not only the players but also the head coach saying that a return to the National Championship is the goal.

In the past, players have repeated Swinney’s five goals for the season – win the opener, win the division, win the rivalry game against the Gamecocks, win the conference championship, and win the “closer” or final game of the season. With the ACC’s new division-less format, one of those goals is off the table.

But the players and Swinney have been adamant about their goals this season, and Swinney himself told the seniors this week that they are the only class since 2013 to not win a National Championship and that they are on the clock.

Swinney told the media back in July that one of his goals was to make it back to the College Football Playoff, saying that he wanted to make it in the final year of the four-team playoff.

“We've had 12 really, really good years in a row," Swinney said. "It's hard to get to the final four when there's 133 teams trying to do it. We've been there as much as anybody. If not going eight years in a row means we stink, well, I guess we stink, but maybe we can get back there this year and be able to say we went seven out of the last nine years. That would be a pretty cool accomplishment.”

Quarterback Cade Klubnik said the team has one goal in mind.

"We're not going to look down on an 11-3 ACC championship season," Klubnik said at the ACC Kickoff event. "There's a lot of teams that wish they could have that type of year. But at the end of the day, that's our goal, is winning a national championship. Last year was a good year, but we've got bigger goals."

I texted someone inside the program earlier this week to ask about the goals, and I was told that there has been a “breath of fresh air” in the program since last December and that the program has taken on even more life with the addition of Garrett Riley.

I asked senior cornerback Sheridan Jones about it last week and he didn’t back down from the stated goal.

“Us being in the 2019 class, we got a taste of it our freshman year,” Jones said. “Some of us got to play and some of us really didn’t. We got a feel for it. Ever since then we have not gotten back, but we know that we can. Just knowing we have the ability. We have the talent. We have the team. We have everything we need. We just want to make sure we go all the way. Like I said early that 2019 class is the only class that has not won a national championship. That is one thing we want to change. We want to change the script.

“Every team is best in their own way. But for me, seeing everybody from top to bottom, the depth, the love for the game, the jell we have, I feel like this is really our best shot.”

Senior defensive tackle Tyler Davis said that winning a title is one of the reasons he returned for a final season.

“Why not have this chance to go win a natty, knowing I got the best linebacker duo and got guys like JP, Sheridan, Nate, Wiggins, RJ Mickens, Andrew Mukuba back there in the secondary, why not just go and have one of the best defenses and go win a natty,” he said.

“I mean, we come here. That’s one of our goals,” Davis continued. “We come here to graduate and win a championship and to leave better prepared as a man. I would say yes, to have a successful season, you have to win a championship of some sort.”

Swinney said that both Davis and Ruke Orhorhoro came back to win a title.

“They both wanted to come back because they wanted to. First of all, they want to win a national championship,” Swinney said. “That’s something personal to them but they feel like they left on the table here, they don’t feel like they’ve maximized their time here.”

Orhorhoro said he tells Davis, his best friend, to leave it all on the field every day.

“Every day, I tell him let’s go out there and empty it. We owe it not only to ourselves, but to this great program to just empty the tank,” Orhorhoro said. “The city of Clemson and the program and the fans out there have poured so much into us, so why not give it back to them? Every day I tell him, if somebody told you that today was your last day, how would you live it? I told him, let's practice every day like it's our last practice. And so we are out there hell on wheels, running around and running into people. I feel like we are going to do that every day and we are going to look up and be in the National Championship."

Swinney has always been a master motivator, and while the rise of Florida State as a rival has given the Clemson program plenty of motivation, there is a feeling by many across the country that Clemson is no longer elite, no longer a major player, and no longer a title contender.

The feeling in Clemson is different, and it looks like the coaches and players are expecting to change the minds of everybody else in 2023.