By: Landon Miller
Many people are wondering what happened to Clemson football these past five or so years. Personally, I feel like I know some of the problems that have caused such a downfall. First off, since NIL and the Portal have become such a huge part of college football, it has shown to affect the Clemson organization, specifically Dabo Swinney. What I mean is Dabo is trying to be old fashioned and totally rely on recruiting to build a powerhouse and stay relevant with the big teams of today such as Ohio State, Oregon, Alabama, Miami, etc. (all of these teams use the portal very frequently). This decision by Dabo is very honorable but it just hasn’t been working. Another reason Clemson has been on a downward slope is the coordinators for Clemson, specifically Garret Riley. I specifically remember the Clemson Vs Texas playoff game in 2024 where, besides the first drive, it was just a horrible showing and Garret did not know how to use Kade Klubnick at all or draw up plays to work against real powerhouse opponents. More on Dabo, I think he’s not a good coach when it comes to play calling, drawing plays, or things like that. Dabo is more of a motivator and talking type of coach in my opinion. Now onto this year, I don’t think it’s gonna be any different, we might even be worse than last year. I say this because we graduated several players, only dipped into the portal a handful of times, and have inexperienced quarterbacks that have really never played. Hopefully, in the future, Clemson football can make a comeback.
