Clemson’s 2026 offseason has carried a different edge, and Dabo Swinney hasn’t been shy about saying why.
The Tigers are trying to climb out of a 7-6 season that started with preseason national title buzz and ended with a pile of questions. Players are fighting for jobs on a depth chart that’s still wide open.
Assistants know another rough year could reshape their futures. And Swinney, more than usual, has put himself front and center, taking extra media hits and openly owning how badly 2025 went.
“I did a horrible job,” Swinney said in April on The Jim Rome Show.
That kind of bluntness has become part of the offseason conversation around Clemson. Swinney has said the urgency is real, and he’s made it clear he believes it should be.
“You win seven games at Clemson, you better have some freakin’ urgency,” Swinney said. “Yeah, there’s a definite sense of urgency. And there always has been.”
The reminder of how far the Tigers fell is impossible to miss. Clemson dropped three of its first four games, and the lone win in that stretch came after it trailed Troy 16-0 at halftime and got booed heading to the locker room. The Tigers never showed up in the AP or College Football Playoff Top 25 after Sept. 7, and they also lost six straight home games against power-conference opponents dating back to 2024.
The problems were obvious on both sides of the ball. The rushing offense sputtered.
The passing defense was a mess. Former players even questioned the team’s toughness publicly.
Swinney’s own comments added another layer to the season’s frustration. At one point, he said that if Clemson was tired of winning games, “they can send me on my way.”
The Tigers did show some fight late, though not enough to erase the bigger picture. After starting 3-5, they finished the regular season with four straight wins to reach bowl eligibility, including road victories at No.
20 Louisville and against South Carolina. But the Pinstripe Bowl against Penn State went sideways, and the 2026 NFL Draft only sharpened the sense that Clemson let a big opportunity slip away.
The Tigers tied a modern-era program record with nine players drafted.
“We grossly underachieved,” Swinney said. “I don’t think that’s a news flash.”
That honesty has carried into the offseason. In November, Swinney said he wanted to get back to his “instincts,” warning against getting pulled too far in other directions.
“You can listen to too much, listen to too many people, and you can get away from what you’re truly convicted in,” he said. “I’ve gotta be better in that area.”
Clemson didn’t tear everything down, but it did make real changes. Defensive coordinator Tom Allen had already made it clear he wasn’t satisfied with the unit’s depth or speed, and Clemson answered by signing a record 12 scholarship transfers, 11 of them on defense. Several are expected to play right away.
Swinney also made staff changes for the fifth straight offseason, moving on from offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and safeties coach Mickey Conn. Chad Morris is back for a second run as Clemson’s offensive coordinator after previously holding the job from 2011-14, and veteran NFL assistant Rich Bisaccia was hired from the Packers to run special teams.
There was also a change in the strength and conditioning program, with Dennis Love replacing Joey Batson in a planned transition.
Not every move matched what some around the program wanted to see. Clemson passed on pursuing a transfer quarterback, even though the money was there, and it also didn’t add any transfer offensive linemen. Morris’ return as an OC also drew mixed reviews.
Still, Swinney framed the offseason overhaul as a reflection of what he believes in, not what others want to see.
“If I’m gonna be successful, it’s not gonna be because I’m trying to please somebody else or doing something that I don’t believe in,” he said.
Athletic director Graham Neff has backed him publicly, even after a season that brought Clemson’s first losing home record in 27 years. Before the Pinstripe Bowl, Neff said he had “full confidence” in Swinney and called him an “incredible fit” for Clemson football and the university.
“I expect that to continue for many, many years ahead,” Neff said Dec 9.
But the fallout from 7-6 still reached beyond the field. In February, Clemson’s Board of Trustees didn’t hand out the usual raises and contract extensions for football assistants. Neff also said the program needed a “better balance” between hiring former players and bringing in coaches with outside experience, and that mix has improved heading into 2026.
Neff told The State he’s encouraged by what he’s seen this offseason, and he said the energy around the program has been “really positive and really exciting.”
“I’m excited about it,” Neff said at ACC spring meetings. “I feel like Coach (Swinney) has been really contrite about looking back at last year and what he’s learned about himself - let alone what his excitement is toward the year ahead.”
Swinney has described this group as “hungry,” and the outside expectations aren’t exactly soaring. Clemson is an 11.5-point underdog at LSU in its opener, likely won’t be in the preseason AP Top 25, and sits at 7.5 wins for its over/under. ESPN projects an 8-4 finish.
That’s a far cry from the glow of last offseason. Swinney doesn’t seem interested in pretending otherwise.
“We’ve all gotta be better,” he said. “And we will be.”
Clemson opens Sept. 5 at No. 11 LSU at 7:30 p.m. on ABC. The rest of the schedule includes Georgia Southern, UNC, a Friday night trip to Cal, Miami, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Duke and South Carolina.
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