National Signing Day, 2011, a huge day for the Clemson Football program. This particular signing day was one of if not the biggest signing days in recent memory for Clemson. One of the most notable grabs for the Clemson team was the No. 1 outside linebacker in the country by the name of Stephone Anthony. In his live commitment on ESPN, Anthony said, "All I gotta say is, Clemson is coming," and boy, was he right.
After the final game of Stephone's career in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl in the post game meeting, Coach Dabo Swinney said simply and emphatically "Clemson is here, and we ain't going nowhere!" Clemson has officially broken out of their old shell and arrived on the national scene in a big way.
Clemson is one of only two schools to achieve at least 10 wins in the last five seasons, the other being Alabama. Clemson is consistently in the media, whether it be for Dabo's ridiculous dancing or great high school players committing to play for the Tigers. At the end of the day, the Tigers stay in the national spotlight because they continue to win football games. Something Coach Swinney always says is that the fun is in the winning, and if that's the case, then the Tigers are having a lot of fun.
This 2016 season should be another great one for the Clemson Tigers. The schedule is challenging with road games at Auburn, Florida State and the always tough to beat at home GT Yellow Jackets. The silver lining in the schedule is that all season, Clemson will not have back-to-back road games and most importantly, before the Florida State game, Clemson will receive a BYE week. There is honestly no reason to not expect this year's Tigers to not win at least 10 games but have another undefeated regular season and ACC Championship appearance and CFP appearance. Those are lofty goals but considering the Tigers return, arguably the most dynamic player in the nation in Deshaun Watson and just about every other key part on offense (not to mention the return of Mike Williams). The offense should set nearly every Clemson and ACC record. Having one of the best defensive coordinators in college football certainly doesn't hurt. With Brent Venables in charge of the defense and the offense giving them plenty of wiggle room for growing up, this has the makings of a very special season.
So, is expecting Clemson to run the table again this year insane? No. It will be very challenging, especially with such a young defense. But if you've been watching this Clemson team at all, you should know that nothing is impossible when you have Dabo, Brent, Deshaun and most importantly, Clemson Nation behind you. So get your popcorn ready because this team has all the pieces in place to make another run at a National Championship.
