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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As Clemson prepared to take the stage at ACC Kickoff inside the Hilton Uptown’s grand ballroom, former Tigers offensive lineman and current ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain didn’t hesitate to set the bar high for the 2025 season.
Reflecting on his own senior year in 2015, Mac Lain drew a parallel to today’s Tigers: “Last year really felt like it did in 2015… The general consensus was that we were a year early. The next year, Clemson would really be able to go on and do great things, and they did. They won a national championship.”
That feeling is rooted in both experience and numbers. The Tigers return a wealth of talent across the board, including what Mac Lain calls “the best quarterback in the country” in Cade Klubnik, who threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns in 2024, and a “loaded” wide receiver group featuring Antonio Williams (904 yards, 11 TDs), Bryant Wesco Jr. (708 yards), and T.J. Moore (651 yards). Defensively, stars like T.J. Parker (11 sacks) and a disruptor like Peter Woods (18 tackles, 3 sacks) give Clemson a legitimate claim to the nation’s best defensive front.
Mac Lain praised not just the talent, but the team’s maturity and confidence: “They understand it. There’s just a different confidence. They have a much better quarterback than Ohio State’s going to have, probably a young freshman or an inexperienced guy there.”
Yet with sky-high expectations comes immense pressure. “What’s good enough that you feel like the season was a success? Is it a national championship? … I’ve never in any instance felt that if you don’t win the Natty, it’s a failed season. But it kind of feels like in this one, if you don’t get close to that, what’s next? A lot of guys are moving on.”
Indeed, the chips are down for head coach Dabo Swinney and his veteran Tigers. Clemson’s 2025 schedule includes early challenges, such as a home opener against LSU, and ACC tilts versus Florida State and SMU. But with experience, production, and Mac Lain’s stamp of championship potential, Tiger fans can expect nothing less than a run at the program’s next national title.
As Mac Lain put it, “There are a lot of chips all-in at the center of the table for the Clemson Tigers.”
