Nine Tigers drafted, a school record. Yet, a disappointing season and coaching questions ignite debate about Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney's future.
The Clemson Tigers had a quiet draft in 2025, sending three players to the NFL.
All three players were taken on Day 3.
Linebacker Barrett Carter was the first Tiger taken. That came in the fourth round. Safety R.J. Mickens went in the sixth. Running back Phil Mafah went in the seventh.
In contrast, Clemson had nine total players taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, matching a school record. Offensive tackle Blake Miller and defensive tackle Peter Woods went in the first round.
While the talent sent to the NFL draft shows Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney put together a good roster, it also showed how incompetent his staff was to coach it last season.
The Tigers entered the season with aspirations of making the College Football Playoff but finished 7-6 on the season.
Richard Johnson of CBS Sports argued that the 2026 draft showed a “true crystallization" of how Swinney's program has fallen off in recent years.
Johnson suggested Swinney could be in trouble at Clemson if he can't win games despite putting together another roster full of NFL talent.
"Swinney has raged against the dying of the light plenty of times," Johnson wrote. He's defied portal usage but is now tacitly dipping the program's toe into it. Perhaps the portaled parts will lead Allen to success, but that remains to be seen. Rich Biasaccia's addition as special teams coach also adds a steady hand to the staff.
"The question isn't just if Clemson can bounce back after last season's disappointment; it's about what a failure to do so will actually mean. Eventually, even the best coaches in a program's history get passed by in spite of how many future pros they can continue to stockpile on the roster year in and year out."
There is no doubt that last year's Clemson team should have been playing for more in December and January. The draft showed that Swinney didn't miscalculate on adding talent.
Swinney moved on from Garrett Riley as offensive coordinator and brought in Chad Morris to call plays, something he hasn't done since 2020. That move was a risk that could define Swinney's future with the program.
The coaching will be somewhat different. It's a last-ditch effort to remake Clemson into what they were in the pre-Covid era.