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National college football analyst Josh Pate offered a blunt assessment of Clemson’s trajectory following a disappointing 7–6 season that ended with a loss in the Pinstripe Bowl, framing the year as a defining moment for the program rather than a one-off stumble.
“Dabo Swinney went 7–6 with a custom-built team… just one of many sentences I didn’t expect to be using here in December,” Pate said, underscoring how unexpected Clemson’s season became given the circumstances.
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Responding to a question from a Clemson fan who wondered whether the Tigers’ head coach is still equipped for the modern era of college football, Pate didn’t push back. “No, you are not crazy for thinking this,” he said. “You know what the standard at Clemson is, because Dabo Swinney made it the standard.”
Pate stressed that this roster was the ultimate test of the Swinney blueprint. Clemson returned massive production, relied almost entirely on player development rather than the transfer portal, had continuity on offense, and faced a favorable schedule. “This right here will be the truest test… about how it reflects on the head coach,” Pate said. “And they went 7–6.”
That result, in Pate’s view, raises serious questions about Clemson’s ceiling moving forward. “I wouldn’t feel good about it at all,” he said when discussing Clemson as a future national title contender. “Why should I expect it to turn around?”
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While Pate praised Swinney as a first-ballot Hall of Famer and the face of Clemson football, he also warned that sustained success requires adaptation. “There’s an end to every run,” Pate said. “If you’re not going to adjust, you will die as it pertains to being a playoff contender.”
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: College football’s Josh Pate doesn’t see Clemson contending again
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