Last year was supposed to be special. Instead, Dabo Swinney’s group — loaded with returning talent off a 2024 ACC title and CFP appearance — face-planted, opened 3-5 and staggered home at 7-6, the worst mark of Swinney’s tenure since 2010. The response has been real staff turnover and the heaviest portal usage of the Swinney era. But sticking with Vizzina under center instead of going out and grabbing a transfer QB? That’s a bold bet heading into what looks like a prove-it season for a program standing at a crossroads. Since 2023, Clemson is 26-14 overall (.650) and 15-9 in ACC play (.625) — a real step down from an outfit that lost only seven games total between 2015 and 2020. LSU, Miami and South Carolina will tell us a lot about where this team actually stands.
Clemson Football: 2026 Tigers Season Preview and Prediction
Offense
Christopher Vizzina waited his turn behind Cade Klubnik for three years. Now the ex-top-100 recruit out of Alabama gets his shot as the presumed starter. He’s still green — just 105 career pass attempts — but he flashed real promise in his first start against SMU last season. If he stumbles, true freshman Tait Reynolds is waiting in the wings.
The receiver room is in good hands with juniors T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr., both of whom look like future NFL players and anchor a genuinely deep group. At running back, Gideon Davidson paired with SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr. gives Clemson a legit 1-2 punch, and tight end is solid too, led by Olsen Patt-Henry.
The bigger question mark is up front, where three of last year’s five starting offensive linemen are gone. Chad Morris — back for round two as OC after his successful 2011-14 stint — needs to find more consistency and explosiveness out of this rebuilt group.
Defense
The portal is doing the heavy lifting on defense this year. Seven transfer additions are already penciled into the two-deep, brought in to inject speed and competitive depth into a unit that simply didn’t have enough juice last season.
Elliot Washington II (Penn State), London Merritt (Colorado), Corey Myrick (Southern Miss) and Jerome Carter III (Old Dominion) should all be in the mix for real snaps right away — necessary reinforcements after Clemson lost seven defensive starters from 2025, either to the draft or the portal.
The leaders of this group are junior linebacker Sammy Brown and senior end Will Heldt, a Purdue transfer who bet on himself and turned down a shot at the draft to come back for one more year in Clemson.
Specialists
Nolan Hauser returns to handle placekicking duties, and Jack Smith is back punting. Both return specialists from a year ago are gone, though, so those jobs are up for grabs in fall camp.
