I have a lot of ties and contacts to Clemson.
It's weird, they really weren't THAT good this year, the offense was improved, but the defense was bad, at least the run defense was. They got gashed on the ground this season.
They really benefited from a terrible ACC schedule. They played all the bad teams in the league, with their best win being Pittsburgh with a backup QB. Had they played Miami's ACC schedule they wouldn't have been in the ACC title game. They played 1 team in regular season that was in the top 7 in the ACC standings, and that was Louisville. They lost that game at home by double digits. They did beat SMU in ACC game, but that was a situation where they got 2nd life getting into the game, and SMU having a little stage fright early. Clemson jumped out, but once SMU got their footing they really dominated Clemson last 2.5 quarters.
NOW with all that said, they hired a good DC in Tom Allen to help fix the defense. They return most of the OL, Klubnik, and all there WR's. They return most of the defense, and they added 2 portal defensive players that should help. I think Dabo knows this year is his shot to try to reclaim glory and compete for a NC. With what they return, and upgrade at staff they think this is going to be their best team since 2020 maybe even 2019.
AFTER this season, they will drop off unless they really hit portal and bring in a QB. Vissina ain't it, the walk on they have right now is better than him.
They will lose most of the OL, Klub, the entire DL, and some key players in back 7. They haven't recruited well enough to replace all those losses like Clemson in that 10 year run did. Miami has out recruited them the last 3 years for the most part.
Maybe Clemson is just better than Miami in 2025, but I don't think they will be in 2026 or 2027
