It has been a year from hell for the Clemson Tigers. The perennial power in the ACC finds itself at a dreadful 4-4 (2-4) for its lofty standard. They are tied for the most conference losses with teams like the 1-4 Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the winless 0-4 Syracuse Orange. Unlike those two teams, Clemson was actually what was once deemed such a safe pick to get to Charlotte in early December.
Now that Florida State has completely lapped them in-conference, as well as other emerging powers like the Louisville Cardinals and Miami Hurricanes, you have to wonder if Clemson is going to adapt or die under its current regime. Dabo Swinney has been a mainstay at head coach for the better part of two decades now. Unfortunately, the old way of doing things is a great way to get worked right now.
So with the Tigers falling to the nail in their hammer vs. nail rivalry with the NC State Wolfpack for the second time in three years, you have to wonder if anything will come from the Textile Bowl defeat for Clemson. They are stubborn as hell, so probably not. However, with great power and influence comes even greater expectations. This has led to a harsh reality that Clemson is not all that good anymore...
Clearly, someone has to get benched, someone needs to be fired and someone needs to be blamed for all that has transpired into Clemson becoming the biggest disappointment of this college season.
Cade Klubnik needs to grab some pine after another weak performance
For as much promise as he showed at times last season, the honeymoon period is over for starting quarterback Cade Klubnik at Clemson. Admittedly, trying to place him upon the same five-star pedestal as Clemson legends like Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence was never a good idea to begin with. Unfortunately, he is not nearly as good as guys like D.J. Uiagalelei or even Kelly Bryant...
Since beating toothless Syracuse in the wake of the heart-breaking home loss to Florida State to end Clemson's College Football Playoff dreams, Klubnik has been worse every game. His QBR has gone from 82.7 in the Syracuse game, to 65.5 vs. Wake Forest, to 54.5 vs. Miami, to 47.6 on Saturday vs. NC State. Clemson's only two ACC conference wins are over Syracuse and Wake Forest this season.
With four games left vs. Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and South Carolina, how sure are we Clemson even splits the difference and goes bowling? Are the Tigers even going to win another game this year? You have to wonder if moving off Klubnik in favor of Hunter Helms or Paul Tyson can get this team back to its winning ways. It is not getting any better with Klubnik; it is only getting worse.
This Clemson program had been elevated by great quarterback play, so that might explain things...
The Garrett Riley experiment has gone wrong and needs to be aborted
Everyone and their brother praised Clemson's hiring of former TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley to replace the ineffective Brandon Streeter this past offseason. As it turns out, those Horned Frogs caught lightning in a bottle in the form of The Hypnotoad. Actually, it might have been Max Duggan being a damn good college football player, but nobody associated with that team is shining.
I don't know if Clemson has the cajones to fire Riley after one season, but the Tigers did pull the rug out from Streeter after only one year taking over for Tony Elliott, now doing whatever he does for the Virginia Cavaliers. Simply put, we are getting a lesser version of the Lincoln Riley offense with his younger brother because the Tigers do not have a game-changing quarterback like Caleb Williams.
No matter how you slice it, pairing Riley with Klubnik under Swinney's watch has not worked out thus far. Clemson could conceivably turn the corner, win three of its last four games and get to something like 8-5 with a bowl game victory. However, I am counting the Notre Dame game as a loss before kickoff begins, and I have a sneaking suspicion either Tech, UNC or South Carolina will beat them, too.
Riley can have success as an offensive coordinator, but he may need to go to an ascending program.
This Clemson program reflects Dabo Swinney's name, image and likeness
While benching Klubnik and potentially moving on from Riley could help improve Clemson in the short-term, it is abundantly clear that the game is passing Swinney by with every passing week. His reluctance to use the transfer portal to fill in gaps from recruitment is absolutely killing them. Not valuing NIL, or allowing commits to visit with other schools, shows us Clemson is so behind the times.
Because he is the most successful head coach in program history, Swinney is not going to be forced out, even though this is not going to get any better. Until I see something drastic change for them internally in terms of overall program structure, the Tigers are not catching Mike Norvell's Florida State Seminoles by their toes anytime soon. Clemson has regressed to Tommy Bowden levels now.
Let's just hope for sake of the fanbase and this program that Swinney will have the self-awareness to take a look in the mirror and decide that something has got to change. This may have been an 8-4 program under Bowden, but Swinney should have this as a 10-2 program in the 12-team playoff era. They can get back to that fairly quickly. That is a sustainable level, one that will result in CFP berths.
If you want to blame anybody for the NC State loss and Clemson's overall demise, look at Swinney.
