Clemson is all but mathematically eliminated from accomplishing any meaningful goals in the 2025 season. With two conference losses, the string of incredible luck to make the ACC championship would be incredible and it would rely not only on that, but on Clemson beating both FSU and Louisville, neither of which is likely.
With beating South Carolina and making a bowl about all that’s left, what do we want to see the rest of this season?
For me, I’ve already moved on to next season. Yes, I’m ready for
basketball season, but I mean the 2026 football season. Clemson will be losing a lot of starters. I previously expected that would mean a down year in 2026 after a special 2025 season. Now it feels like the opposite. The stars we thought we’d miss so dearly are massively underperforming and there’s a real opportunity for a full roster and cultural reset.
Here’s a list of some of the senior starters who will be departing:
- QB Cade Klubnik
- OL Blake Miller
- OL Tristan Leigh
- OL Walker Parks
- C Ryan Linthicum
- RB Adam Randall
- DT DeMonte Capehart
- LB Wade Woodaz
This excludes juniors and others who may transfer, but that’s already a long list of starters. There will be holes to fill. Using the programs current roster building philosophy, they’ll likely be less talented in 2026. In a weird way, that’s all the more reason to be excited. They’ll be forced to change or else they’ll enter 2026 with 6-wins as a goal instead of a disaster.
The top seven teams in this year’s transfer portal class rankings are all looking quite good at the moment. LSU is #1 in those rankings and is currently undefeated including their win at Clemson. #2 Texas Tech just beat Utah and is in the drivers seat for the Big 12’s automatic berth into the playoff. #3 Miami is atop my current ACC Power Rankings. #4 is Ole Miss, another team I expect to make the playoff or at least have a great shot at it. #5 is Oregon, one of the most impressive teams in the country after losing most of their production from a year ago. #6 is Florida State, who beat Alabama and remains undefeated. #7 is Missouri, who just beat South Carolina, something Clemson would like to do this season. It’s going pretty well for the teams who landed big-time transfer portal classes.
Conversely, a list of the schools who returned the most starters is headlined by Arizona State (17 returning) Illinois (16), and Clemson (16). These schools have enjoyed far less success. This of course is a small sample size of just 10 different programs a quarter the way into one season, so this isn’t definitive proof of how you should construct your roster. It is a lot more sample than FSU’s two year run from 13-1 to 2-10, which seems to have colored perceptions far more than it should.
All of that is to say this year’s failure by Clemson doesn’t mean Clemson has to endure a 3-year building process like we did to get to this supposed “pay-off season.” Quite the opposite. It should mean next year’s team (and perhaps coaching staff) looks much different. If that’s the case, this season has little bearing on what to expect next year (much like Florida State).
So why care about this season? There’s no tanking for draft picks, but there is winning to retain your recruiting class. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a spate of decommitments through a 2-10 season so salvaging a 6-6 year would be ideal. More important though is seeing what the next generation talent on the roster has to offer. First and foremost is QB Christopher Vizzina.
Vizzina was a four-star recruit that Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Georgia, and Auburn all offered. The 6-4 Alabama native is a redshirt sophomore meaning he has two seasons of eligibility remaining after this one. He could be the future. We still don’t know that though. He has never played meaningful snaps. If Clemson to rebuild, they need to know if they’re rebuilding around him or if landing a (likely expensive) portal QB is step one in the rebuild.
This all gets more complicated when you consider that Cade Klubnik could (and probably should) redshirt and transfer if he is benched now. Do you wait a game and then make the move? That seems dishonest and deceptive. Instead, splitting snaps probably makes the most sense. Klubnik can still play and recoup some of his tattered draft stock while the team and fans get to see if Vizzina can be the answer in 2026 and 2027.
This holds true for other positions as well. Adam Randall has been fantastic — aside from the fumbles — but is a senior. He absolutely deserves to start and build an NFL resume at the running back position, but they also need to find some carries for Eziomume and Davidson to see if one or both can be primary running backs next season.
This same principle applies on the offensive line where Elyjah Thurmon, Brayden Jacobs, Mason Wade, and Ronan O’Connell could use some real snaps. (Thurmon does have >100 snaps so far and is already outplaying Parks and Sadler.) How many portal linemen does this team need? It could be just one or two if some of the young players are ready. It could be a much bigger number if not.
On defense, can we see Jerry Alexander who will return for one more season next year and could potentially start? What about Darien Mayo and Amare Adams on the defensive line?
Unlike pro sports, you don’t tank for draft picks, but looking ahead to next season has already begun. Players and coaches obviously want to win now, but starting the highly-paid veterans isn’t working anyway. Let’s see what the future looks like and not waste the remaining eight games trying to squeeze out a 7th win when we could be developing talent for 2026.
