Clemson Has a 'Culture' Worry Before 2026 Season, Per Insider
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Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney is not on the hot seat coming into the 2026 season, even after suffering a disappointing 7-6 record last season.
Remember, two years ago, Swinney won the ACC championship and had the Tigers competing in the College Football Playoff.
However, the upcoming season is a pivotal one for Swinney and Clemson. There is a worry around college football that Swinney has lost his mojo, and he needs a winning season to prove to recruits around the country that Clemson will continue to compete for the CFP.
During an appearance on ESPN's "Get Up" on Thursday, college football insider Greg McElroy argued that this season will be pivotal for Clemson to show that there isn't a culture problem in the locker room, especially after the team underachieved last season with a roster that sent nine players to the first five rounds of April's NFL Draft.
“The talent was there, yet the performance wasn’t," McElroy said of the 2025 team, via a transcription from On3. "Now he’s likely going to have to overachieve with a roster that might not have the same level of top-tier talent.
"So this is the year where we find out if Clemson’s culture really is still intact because they won with culture, and talent, by the way, for a number of years. Last year, the culture and talent just didn’t coincide with a lot of victories.”
Clemson really has been a national championship competitor since 2020, the last season Trevor Lawrence was with the program. Swinney took a gamble by choosing not to bring in an experienced quarterback in the transfer portal, opting for a battle between Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds.
McElroy thinks the outcome of this season will reflect how in tune Swinney is with modern college football.
“This is the year where we find out just how much he’s evolved," McElroy said. “Let’s be real here: Dabo has not necessarily resisted the portal, but he has prioritized building from within and making sure that he retained players, recruited players, and relied almost exclusively on high school talent.
"But this year he took double-digit transfers. That’s a program record, still, by the way, near the bottom of college football."
Most of the transfers came on the defensive side of the ball. The defense should be good, but there are a lot of questions about the offense, including new offensive coordinator Chad Morris, who has not called plays in six seasons.
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