ESPN analyst Greg McElroy provocatively labels Clemson's recent struggles a "midlife crisis." He questioned if Dabo Swinney can adapt to modern college football.
Clemson was a dominant team in the ACC from 2015-2020, winning six consecutive conference titles.
Since then, the Tigers won the ACC championship in 2022 and 2024. Last year, Clemson was completely eclipsed in the conference by Miami, which appears to be the power program after making the College Football Playoff national title.
Clemson has won two national titles under head coach Dabo Swinney, with the last championship coming in 2018. After quarterback Trevor Lawrence left, the Tigers have made one CFP appearance.
That came in 2024, when the Tigers made the CFP despite suffering three losses in the regular season.
It's fair to say the program has been in decline since the 2020 campaign, and there is chatter in the college football world that the modern game is passing Swinney by.
With that being said, ESPN's Greg McElroy took a subtle shot at Clemson, suggesting on his "Always College Football" show this week that the Tigers appear to be in the midst of a "midlife crisis."
“Let’s talk about a program that’s currently undergoing the college football equivalent of like a midlife crisis,” McElroy said, via a transcription by On3. “I mean that in the most entertaining way possible, because if you look at where Dabo Swinney has been the last few years, they’ve kind of been trying to hold back the ocean with a broom.
“But, as of this past cycle, the broom is gone, and Dabo’s out there surfing, man. He is. He is out there fired up because they’re talking about a legitimate rebirth."
McElroy argued that Swinney has made good with the transfer portal because the coach is "desperate" to find talent that will help make the program a threat in the CFP again.
“It’s about Dabo Swinney proving that his culture can survive the very things that he used to despise,” McElroy said.
“If (offensive coordinator) Chad Morris can’t get this offense to really be rolling by the end of April, then that defense has got to play at a high level."
Of course, the offense isn't guaranteed to have any level of success in the upcoming season. The Tigers are set to have a quarterback battle this spring, so it's unclear who will replace Cade Klubnik in the fall.
More importantly, Morris might have a learning curve of his own this fall. He hasn't called plays since the 2020 season, the last year that the Tigers were legitimate contenders for the national title.