What Has Held Clemson Tiger Football Back for 20 Years?

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AthlonSports in their Atlantic Coast preview magazine wrote an article titled "Why Can't Clemson Break Through". If I had a link to the article on the Web I'd put it here, but so far I've found it only in the hardy copy version. 

The title brought up an interesting question. Just exactly why can't Clemson break through? The Tigers last ACC Title was 20 years ago in 1991. It's been since 1990 that Clemson last had a 10-plus win season.

OK quick—name the ACC schools without a 10-win season or ACC title since 1991.

There's Clemson and Duke. Miami also has neither, but they've only been in the ACC for a few years, plus they won a national title  in the last decade. 

You would think just dumb luck would have given Clemson a big season somewhere along the line. It hasn't happened. For a school with arguably the strongest fanbase in the ACC, and recruits year in and year out in the top in the ACC three or four—so what gives? 

Athlon never really answers the question, other than citing some difficulties of recruiting to Clemson such as the school's location and the lack of top talent in the state of South Carolina.

They also mention the improvement of the ACC in football. They still note how well Clemson has recruited over the years. Neither reason is one I think has held Clemson back. 

Living in South Carolina myself, I've heard other reasons for Clemson struggles ranging from lack of athletic funds to increased academic standards. I'm not buying that either not when Georgia Tech  and Wake Forest  have won recent ACC Titles. How about the simple most obvious reason? Mediocre coaching... 

Following Danny Ford, Ken Hatfield and Tommy West were nice guys who had the mis-fortune of being in the middle of the Florida State dominated 90's. Hatfield in particular was never popular with Clemson fans. Tommy Bowden re-energized Clemson upon his arrival, but his teams were known for their schizophrenic play.

That's a sure sign of team of a poorly disciplined team. Dabo Swinney brought on after Bowden, had no head coaching experience at all. Swinney is very much still learning on the job. 

He may turn out to be great, but the general consensus is that Swinney still has a ways to go has a head coach. He is a strong recruiter which helps. I'm surprised Athlon never pointed out that not one of these four coaches were ever noted as a great X's and O's guy. 

Clemson can and should be better than what they've been. In all honesty this is the ACC's most underachieving program of the past 20 years.