We're now fewer than 100 days away from Clemson's season opener against LSU in Baton Rouge, and anticipation is building around what feels like a key season in the Dabo Swinney era.
The Tigers will open the 2026 campaign looking for redemption after last year's 17-10 loss to the Bayou Bengals, a game that entered the season carrying College Football Playoff implications for both programs. Instead, it became the beginning of disappointing seasons on both sidelines.
LSU and Clemson entered 2025 with championship aspirations. Neither came close to meeting them, as both teams finished 7-6.
LSU parted ways with Brian Kelly despite opening the year with a marquee road victory over Clemson. They responded by hiring Lane Kiffin after his successful run at Ole Miss, while Swinney made a significant move of his own by reshaping Clemson's offensive direction.
After three underwhelming and inconsistent seasons under Garrett Riley, Clemson turned back to a familiar face, bringing Chad Morris back to Tiger Town to run the offense.
If Clemson is going to leave Tiger Stadium with a statement victory on Sept. 5, Morris' impact could be one of the biggest reasons why.
I've already written about why the development of sophomore running back Gideon Davidson feels critical to Clemson's success this season.
Davidson, as a freshman, rushed for 260 yards and added 93 receiving yards despite limited opportunities as Adam Randall did most of the heavy lifting, positioning the former wideout to get a shot at running back in the NFL.
The Tigers added former SMU running back Chris Johnson Jr., whose speed adds a home-run threat to the offense. Jay Haynes is back after injury, and David Eziomume gives Clemson another physical option between the tackles.
Just as important as the talent, however, may be the system those backs are running in.
When Morris left Clemson after the 2014 season to become SMU's head coach, many wondered whether the Tigers could sustain the offensive momentum he helped create.
As it turned out, they did far more than sustain it.
Under Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott, Clemson didn't abandon the principles Morris established. The offense evolved, and the program entered the most successful stretch in its history.
The Tigers reached four national championship games, won two national titles, and produced generational quarterbacks in Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. But while those teams were known for explosive passing attacks, they were equally defined by balance.
Wayne Gallman rushed for more than 1,500 yards in 2015. Travis Etienne became the ACC's all-time leading rusher. Clemson consistently paired elite quarterback play with a productive ground game and a physical offensive line.
That balance became a hallmark of the program. That's why Morris' return feels so significant.
Riley arrived at Clemson with an impressive résumé after helping lead TCU to a national championship game appearance. But from the start, there was often a feeling that Clemson was trying to merge two offensive identities.
Riley's background is rooted in the Air Raid, a philosophy built around spreading defenses out and attacking through the air. Clemson's greatest offensive success under Swinney, meanwhile, has typically come when the running game serves as the foundation and the passing attack grows from it.
The numbers from last season illustrate that contrast.
Clemson averaged 267.8 passing yards per game but only 124.5 rushing yards per contest. The Tigers finished with 3,481 passing yards compared to 1,618 rushing yards, making them one of the more pass-heavy offenses of the Swinney era.
Now, the pendulum should begin swinging back.
With Christopher Vizzina expected to take over at quarterback, a talented receiving corps led by T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr., and arguably Clemson's deepest running back room in years, Morris inherits the personnel needed to restore the balance that once defined the Tigers' best offenses.
Morris' philosophy has long centered on simplifying the game for his quarterbacks.
As he explained in an interview on our daily radio show, when discussing young signal callers, "Don't try to do more than you can. Just do the simple things really good and everything else will come into play."
That approach could prove valuable for Vizzina as he steps into the starting role. Perhaps that's what makes this offseason so fascinating.
For the last several years, Clemson has searched for the next evolution of its offense. The Tigers experimented with new ideas, new concepts, and a different philosophical approach.
Now, they may be discovering that the answer isn't something new at all.
It may simply be a return to the formula that built Clemson into a national power in the first place: a physical running game, explosive playmakers on the perimeter, and an offense that keeps defenses guessing because it can beat them in multiple ways.
If that's truly the direction Clemson is headed, there won't be a better measuring stick than on the road at night against LSU.
Clemson spent the last several seasons searching for answers offensively. But as Morris recently noted, "Sometimes you have to go through those [tough times] to really find out the identity of who your team is."
The Tigers may have discovered that their identity isn't found in the next offensive trend, but in returning to the balance and physicality that fueled the program's rise to national prominence.
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