An ESPN writer/analyst is enthralled by the Clemson football program when she thinks about Dabo Swinney’s team going forward into next season, in light of the changes on Swinney’s staff and his decision to fill both coordinator roles internally.
Swinney, of course, promoted from within the program when replacing Tony Elliott and Brent Venables as Clemson’s offensive and defensive coordinators after they left to become the new head coaches at Virginia and Oklahoma, respectively.
Quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter was named the new offensive coordinator, while Wes Goodwin was bumped up from senior defensive assistant to defensive coordinator/linebackers coach, and safeties coach Mickey Conn was given the role of co-defensive coordinator.
ESPN’s Andrea Adelson said during a recent edition of The ESPN College Football Podcast that she is fascinated by the Tigers heading into next year following Swinney’s staff shakeup.
“It’s fascinating to me, and I don’t think there’s a more fascinating story moving forward inside the ACC than Clemson and how this is going to affect them,” Adelson said.
Adelson added that she believes Clemson “could potentially be at a tipping point” after a season that saw Pittsburgh win the ACC Championship, snapping the Tigers’ streak of six straight conference titles.
“They don’t play for an ACC Championship this year, people think they’re quote unquote ‘down,’” she said. “They seem mortal, and everybody else in the ACC is paying attention and they’re watching and they’re finally realizing huh, OK, alright, yeah, alright, we can do this, anybody else can do this. So, Clemson can’t just sit back and be like, we’re Clemson and it’ll be fine for next season. They suddenly have a reinvigorated conference that sees the light, that OK, there’s room for the rest of us here.”
“That’s why I think this is so crucial for Clemson, because they can’t just be Clemson,” Adelson continued. “They have to be a better version of Clemson, and do these hires make Clemson a better version of Clemson? Does staying out of the transfer portal make Clemson a better version of Clemson? Does Dabo continually fighting against all of these perceptions about the program, does that make Clemson a better version of Clemson? That’s why I think Clemson is the most fascinating team – maybe not just in the ACC – maybe in the entire country.”
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