Clemson Tiger Football: Ready to Move Forward or Just Tease Us Again?

When Dabo Swinney was named the Clemson head coach at the end of 2008, it was met with plenty of apprehension from the Tiger faithful. He goes from Wide Receivers coach to leading a major BCS conference team? Sure, he had salvaged a 2008 season gone wrong when he, as interim coach, got the Tigers to the Gator Bowl, but how would he perform with a full season?

Well, he did just fine. Swinney led Clemson to a nine-win season, a bowl win, and an ACC Atlantic Division title. For his efforts Swinney received a roughly $900,000 increase from the 2009 season. Most Clemson fans now feel fairly comfortable with Swinney leading their program and are looking for bigger things in 2010.

With the return of QB Kyle Parker and an athletic, talented defense, the Tigers should be in the thick of the Atlantic Division race. However, the Clemson program has teased us like this before.

In 2000, Clemson started the season 8-0 only to lose three of its final four. In 2003, the Tigers went 9-4, knocking off two top 10 teams, only to go 6-5 in 2004. In 2008, the Tigers were the pre-season favorite to win the ACC. They got blown out by Alabama in their first game and slumped to a 3-3 start. It was goodbye Tommy Bowden.

In recent years, Clemson has struggled to build on any momentum of the previous season. To me the Tigers don't have to repeat as champions to prove the program is moving forward, but a significant result would be to put together another nine-win or better season.

The Tigers haven't had back to back nine-wins seasons or better since the 1990 and 1991 seasons. While the schedule is daunting, with five games against pre-season top 25 teams (#23 Auburn, #13 Miami, #17 Georgia Tech, #20 Florida State, and #18 North Carolina), Dabo Swinny and this Clemson team have the task to prove that last season wasn't just another tease, but that Clemson football is set to be an ACC Contender for years to come.

 

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