Different Team, Same Expectations
The funny thing about 2017 is that it wasn't supposed to be Clemson's year. This was supposed to be a year where the Tigers were good, not great.
Today, Clemson is 11-1 and has a chance to win the ACC title this weekend in Charlotte.
That's not what the experts predicted. Few had Clemson at the top of the Atlantic Division, and most had Clemson losing 2-3 games if not more in 2017.
I guess the Tigers didn't get the memo.
Back in the summer, I predicted that Clemson would go undefeated and outside of a Kelly Bryant ankle tweak, they Tigers would probably be unblemished in the loss column. It was a stretch to many, but as much as Clemson lost from the National Championship team, I still felt that they were better than their competition, including Florida State.
Speaking of the Seminoles, they were expected to run roughshod over the conference and battle Alabama for college football supremacy.
Remember the "G.O.A.T."? The Greatest Opener of All-Time?
Alabama vs. Florida State's September matchup was supposed to be a preview of the national championship game.
Clemson and Auburn had other ideas.
The Tigers, both sets, are headed towards their respective conference championship games with opportunities to finish #1 and #2 in the final College Football Playoff rankings that will be released Sunday at high noon.
The two combatants in the season opener?
Well, Alabama sits idle this weekend hoping for some help, and Florida State will be playing Louisiana-Monroe just to save a 35-year bowl streak.
The Seminoles are also on alert as head coach Jimbo Fisher appears to be headed to College Station to coach the Texas A&M Aggies.
Incredible.
But that's why I love this sport. Three months of summer hype, offset by three months of college football. Things change, injuries take place, coaches move, and the game endures.
Clemson now has a chance to bring home their third consecutive conference title with a win over Miami in Charlotte on Saturday.
The last time Clemson won three consecutive ACC Championships was 1986, 1987, and 1988. This is rarefied air.
When I think back to my youth, it's hard to believe that Clemson didn't do this more often. As compared to their contemporaries in the ACC, before Florida State's arrival, the Tigers were the conference bell cow. Yet, Clemson could only muster a three-peat in the Atlantic Coast Conference one time.
Some will point to recruiting as the key to Clemson's success. Others will point to in-game strategies on offense and defense, but the real key has been Dabo Swinney's expectations.
Not expectations to win, but expectations to perform at a high level on each play every week. Expectations to prepare, expectations to be studious, and expectations to love the sport.
It's really simple.
Find guys who love the game. Find guys who want to prepare. Find guys that are undersized, and undervalued, as Coach Swinney put it when describing Hunter Renfrow, find guys who have, "a heart that's 6'4 250."
Looking back, I'd argue that the 2015 Clemson team that lost to Alabama in the title game has been the most talented team Swinney's had at Clemson. A bunch of NFL-caliber bodies littered the field, but they were just missing something a little extra.
Clemson found "it" last season, perhaps because they recognized that it wasn't there a year before. Now with "it" coursing through their veins, the Tigers found a national championship in January.
I don't know what the season or future holds for Clemson, and in the end, perhaps this 2017 team doesn't win it all. That's okay.
Coach Swinney said himself that no matter what happens Saturday night in Charlotte, he'll be proud of what his team has accomplished because not many expected the Tigers to be back in this position.
Especially after losing so much.
This team may just be a good one, not a great one. But good can turn into great when good holds itself to high expectations and finds the "it" factor.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present the 2017 Clemson Tigers.