If you ask who the ACC leader is, hearing Clemson’s name echo shouldn’t be surprising. Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have been dominating this 18-team conference, winning six of the last eight ACC championship titles. They never fell out of relevance, bringing home two of the past three conference titles. Ask any fan who was at the 2024 ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, and they’ll tell you about the deafening roar that followed Clemson’s 56-yard walk-off field goal. The moment that felt less like a win and more like a statement: the Tigers aren’t going anywhere. In fact, things could get even better.

Yes, they fell to Texas in the CFP game, which prolonged their wait for national glory, but don’t let that 38-24 scoreline fool you. Swinney’s team is raring to go again as expectations remain high. The 2025 roster features a core of returning starters on both sides of the ball, including a maturing quarterback who showed major poise under pressure late last season. Their defense remains stacked with NFL-bound talent, particularly in the front seven. In 2024, they ranked top-5 nationally in sacks and held opponents to under 100 rushing yards per game.

So, unsurprisingly, in a new episode of Josh Pate’s College Football Show on April 22, the national analyst didn’t hesitate to hype the Tigers.  He put them on top of the list of the teams with the best odds to win the 2025 ACC Championship at +165.

“Everybody including me, thinks that Clemson is the clear favorite right now to win the ACC,” he said. “You got the returning quarterback, the returning offensive coordinator, really good defense, everything’s been geared towards this year.” ESPN’s Bill Connelly made it clear that no FBS team is returning more production from 2024 than the Tigers.

QB Cade Klubnik is back for his third year after throwing for 3,639 yards and 36 TDs last season. He is even in the Heisman conversation, protected by four returning linemen. Klubnik returns as one of the premier quarterbacks in college football, leading a promising young backfield loaded with elite potential. Surrounding him is arguably the best receiving unit in the nation. Moreover, Garrett Riley is back as the Tigers’ OC.  The defensive side is no less favorable. 

The defense is returning talents like DE TJ Parker and tackle Peter Woods. It also got a serious coaching upgrade with the arrival of ex-Indiana HC and former Penn State DC Tom Allen. Even FanDuel’s got Clemson at +240 to win the ACC in their way-too-early conference title odds.

Many experts have said that this is Clemson’s best team since their 2018 natty winning season, and others have touted them as a top-10 team entering next season. ESPN’s Chris Low and Adam Rittenberg have put the Tigers as the team that could “dominate 2025.”

Clemson will begin the season against LSU at Death Valley, followed by another home game against Troy. Their schedule is considered moderately tough, featuring marquee non-conference matchups against LSU and South Carolina, along with key ACC games against contenders like Florida State and North Carolina. Ranked 6th in ACC schedule difficulty by College Football News and 22nd nationally by TeamRankings.com, it offers enough challenges to test the Tigers without being overwhelming.

It is possible that Swinney could be recreating past achievements beyond just the ACC title. But here’s where it gets tricky, and it has to do with his transfer portal philosophy. 

Dabo Swinney’s portal strategy gets a nod

Dabo Swinney is different from other HCs when it comes to the transfer portal. And that difference dragged him through the mud by many. But the locker room? They’ve got his back loud and clear. In an appearance on The Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, Parker and Woods doubled down on their HC’s culture-first strategy.

“I think, personally, it builds the team,” Parker said. “Like obviously, everybody that is on the team, he recruited heavy, so that relationship is already there. Truthfully, we’ve got the talent to go all the way with it, without using the transfer portal. Because we really didn’t need anything.” But don’t get it twisted. 

This offseason, Dabo Swinney took a dip into the portal because of necessity. They added Purdue DE Will Heldt, Southeast Missouri State wideout Tristan Smith, and Alabama edge rusher Jeremiah Alexander. Call it selective adjustments. Josh Pate even jokes that if Dabo Swinney runs the table and wins a natty with this group, he should “just drop the mic and go work in TV.”

He added, “If I weave my way through the portal era and everyone hating on me for my policy, and then I bend a little bit on it but I win with a team that’s largely made up of guys we recruited, we developed… And if they go and win the championship… It would be the biggest elbow off the top rope that anyone’s ever given this sport.” And he might be right.

Dabo Swinney has already won two national titles (2016, 2018) with the Tigers. If he pulls this off in the portal era with the players he recruited and developed, it’s going to be more than just a big win. It’ll be a statement of his coaching greatness. A reminder that culture still matters.