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In the modern era of college football, offense is the name of the game, and it’s hard to be a national title contender unless you’re capable of scoring over 40 points per game. When Clemson was winning national titles with Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence, the Tigers were generally among the best offensive programs in the country. Since Lawrence departed for the NFL, Clemson hasn’t had the same level of offensive output, and that’s the biggest reason why the Tigers haven’t made the College Football Playoff since losing to LSU in the 2021 national championship game.
Dabo Sweeney has built his program on stability, and when Tony Elliott left his role as offensive coordinator to be the head coach at Virginia, Sweeney was promoted from within, giving Brandon Streeter the job. even though Streeter’s offense averaged over 33 points per game last season, his passing attack only surpassed the 250 yard mark, once, and that was in a double overtime contest at Wake Forest. even though Clemson still managed to win 11 games last year, earn another ACC championship, and play in a New Year’s Six bowl game, the program was missing something that would allow them to compete for national championships, which is the expectation in Death Valley. With that, Sweeney decided to move on from Streeter and make the best coordinator hire of the off-season, bringing in Garrett Riley from TCU.
Riley, helped guide TCU all the way to the national title game, as the Horned Frogs upset TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, before getting routed by Georgia in the national title game. In the process, Riely elevated the level of play of Max Duggan, to the point where he was a Heisman Trophy finalist. He’s now tasked with getting the most of Cade Klubnik, a former five-star prospect, who earned MVP honors of the ACC Championship Game, after taking over in the middle of the first quarter. Klubnik has Will Shipley, Phil Mafah, and Antonio Williams, among others, who are expected to be contributors in 2023.
Riley has more all-around talent at his disposal at Clemson than he ever had at TCU, but will that translate to on-field success? When that topic came up on the Wes & Walker Show earlier today on WFNZ, it sparked an interesting debate. Walker believes that it’s hard to look at his track record, and not expect the same type of impact, with an even better roster. As for Wes, his belief in Riley isn’t the main concern, it’s his doubt that that Klubnik is the right guy to lead the offense, Only time will tell, but if he continues his reputation of coordinating high-powered offenses, you can’t rule out another ACC title in 2023, and a potential return to the College Football Playoff.
You can catch the Wes & Walker Show every weekday from 12-3 PM on Sports Radio 92.7 WFNZ, and the WFNZ app.
