The Clemson Tigers are limping out of last year with the sort of reluctant hope only Dabo Swinney could turn into cash. They lost to the College Football Playoff, defeated by Texas 38-24. The defense, which once had offensive coordinators losing sleep, surrendered a staggering 292 yards on the ground in that contest. And as Dabo admitted, they pretty much gave Texas a first-half lead they never overcame. Yes, Cade Klubnik threw for 336 yards and made stat sheets look nice, but there was always an impression that the Tigers felt shaky and not in control, and that feeling required a major fixing as they step into this season.

But don’t ever say Clemson falls into obscurity. I mean, fourteen consecutive nine-win seasons. But if you asked most college football fans back in December, they would have told you Clemson was buckled up in the “has-beens” minivan. So, how did Clemson go from doubted to dominant, at least in perception? And how did we get national analyst Josh Pate to crown them #1 in the ACC post-spring rankings? 

In the Gramlich & Mac Lain show and Pate states, “They’re by far the second-best team on the field that day.” Host Gramlich agrees and replies, “A big reason, I guess, that I am so confident in them this year is that defense is going to be what it’s supposed to be.” Clemson’s D-line has essentially been a talent factory, and 2025 is no exception. They brought in Purdue transfer Will Heldt. He is a guy who haunted Big Ten quarterbacks a year ago with 11 TFLs and 5 sacks. And also provides just the kind of outside havoc Clemson’s lacked since the good ol’ days with Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins.

But the firepower doesn’t extend quite as far back as the line. Peter Woods and DeMonte Capehart are manning the interior, both possessing high-level experience and pure mass. And with the new defensive coordinator Tom Allen (off Penn State’s killer scheme), you can look for Clemson’s already-deep rotation to become even more menacing. But still, Pate highlights a glaring flaw in the system. “I just kind of wonder, like, going back to that Louisville game. And just going back to a couple of times last year where you’re running the ball on Clemson with way more efficiency than you should be able to run,” Pate states.

He adds, “The ball on them if I got guys like Peter Woods up front. So, that to me will be the big indicator.” Last season, Louisville racked up a whopping 210 rushing yards on just 27 attempts, averaging a staggering 7.8 yards per carry, against a Clemson front that’s supposed to set the standard in the ACC. The real heartbreaker? Louisville running back Isaac Brown gashed them with 151 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Even deeper, there were key moments. Like the second quarter, when Louisville went 92 yards in under three minutes, capped with Tyler Shough’s four-yard TD run, slicing through that front seven with shocking ease.

All night, even the guys like Woods, who Tiger fans expect to anchor this defense, moved off their spots or left trailing cutbacks. Clemson ran 101 plays to Louisville’s 59, dominated time of possession, and outgained them in total yards (450 to 366). But “yardage wins” are cold comfort when the opponent doesn’t need much volume to dominate up front. The weak spot is the DBs, who’ve been “just good, not great.” Pate doesn’t say the DBs will be the downfall. But he’s clear that if Clemson falls short, that’s the spot everyone will point to afterward.

Tom Allen’s unique edge for Clemson’s defense

Dabo Swinney’s splashy $6 million hire of Tom Allen isn’t just about new faces; it’s about flipping the script on a defense that, frankly, looked allergic to its old strengths. Allen walks into Death Valley with a plan that starts 30 feet above ground. The coaches’ box, to be exact. That alone is a turbo-jolt to the Clemson tradition, where no defensive coordinator has called a season from the booth since 1995. Allen comes straight off a monster year with Penn State, where his defense was a cold-blooded, havoc-wreaking machine.

It was seventh nationally in total defense, second in tackles-for-loss, fifth in sacks, and they stifled opponents to just 16.5 points a game. That aggression is exactly what Clemson’s been missing. Allen’s arrival signals a return to intentionality and edge, according to D-line coach Nick Eason. And this isn’t just locker room hype, Eason says, “Wes is a good coach, good coordinator − I’m not knocking him − but it’s a different vibe and style for every DC and what they bring to the table. Tom has just done a really good job of coming in and implementing what he believes in and being intentional.”

Safety coach Mickey Conn backs it up: “I think he’s a really good leader. And everyone has taken to his leadership,” he said. The plan? More structure, more discipline, and a relentless, Big Ten-style front seven. It aims to bring chaos in the backfield and shut down those five-yard run leaks that doomed them last year.