The Clemson Tigers have received a really tough prediction thanks to one major problem.
The Clemson Tigers are aiming to bounce back from one of their worst seasons in recent memory, as they just went 7-6 in spite of entering 2025 with national championship aspirations.
In fact, it marked Clemson's worst finish since Dabo Swinney's second year with the program in 2010, when the Tigers went 6-7.
Swinney's refusal to utilize the transfer portal in recent years has been a significant reason for Clemson's decline. The Tigers landed just five transfers between 2022 and 2025, so they have fallen rather far behind in this modern NIL era.
On the bright side, Swinney has been much more active in the portal this winter, bagging nine players in total (and it would have been 10 had linebacker Luke Ferrelli not bolted for Ole Miss).
The problem many Clemson fans have, however, is that Swinney did not add a quarterback this month. He seems dead set on going into 2026 with Christopher Vizzina under center, and while Vizzina has shown promise in limited action and is a former four-star recruit, fans remain unsettled.
Will Vandervort of The Clemson Insider is a perfect example.
Vandervort just wrote a piece predicting how the Tigers will finish the month of September after their official schedule release, and he does not envision much success for Swinney and Co.
Clemson Tigers quarterback Christopher Vizzina. Credit: Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK.Why? Because of the situation under center.
"To make matters worse, the Tigers will be breaking in a first-time starter at quarterback," Vandervort wrote. "New offensive coordinator Chad Morris has his hands full getting this offense ready. With an inexperienced quarterback, it hard to imagine Clemson coming out of September with anything better than a 2-2 record."
The Tigers will open up at LSU on Sept. 5. They will then host Georgia Southern and North Carolina at home before heading on the road to battle California.
"I wonder if Dabo Swinney wishes he went out and grabbed an experienced quarterback from the portal now," Vandervort added. "This is not the kind of schedule Clemson needed while trying to break in a new quarterback and a brand-new offense."
There were certainly a bunch of intriguing signal-callers available this winter, but Swinney elected to avoid all of them.
Will that end up being a mistake?
We'll find out next fall, but the sentiment seems pretty clear among Tigers fans that Swinney may have dropped the ball here.
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