Clemson Tigers
Overall Rank: #48
#7 Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson Team Page
2010 Record: (6-7, 4-4)
2010 Bowl: Meineke Car Care Bowl vs. South Florida (L 31-26)
Coach: Dabo Swinney (19-15 at Clemson, 19-15 overall)
Offensive Coordinator: Chad Morris
Defensive Coordinator: Kevin Steele
Returning Leaders:
Rushing: Andre Ellington, RB, 686 yards
Passing: Tajh Boyd, QB, 329 yards
Receiving: DeAndre Hopkins, WR, 626 yards
Tackles: Corico Hawkins, LB, 71
Sacks: Andre Branch, DE, 5
Interceptions: Xavier Brewer, CB, and Rashard Hall, S, 2
Other Key Returnees: TE Dwayne Allen, WR Jaron Brown, C Dalton Freeman, TE G Antoine McClain, NG Brandon Thompson, OT Landon Walker
Key Losses: DE Da’Quan Bowers, CB Marcus Gilchrist, RB Jamie Harper, DT Jarvis Jenkins, S DeAndre McDaniel, QB Kyle Parker
The seat under Head Coach Dabo Swinney is getting warmer. Such is the reality for a coach at a football-mad school that has just endured its first losing season in 12 years. Whether the criticism of Swinney is valid or not, he did make changes, most notably hiring Tulsa offensive coordinator Chad Morris for the same position with the Tigers. The Gus Malzahn disciple’s hurry-up system should at least liven things up around Death Valley.
Strengths:
Morris has a lot to work with on the Clemson offense. In particular, running back Andre Ellington could be one of the breakthrough stars of the 2011 season, provided that he is fully recovered from the broken toe that sidelined him for the final four games last year. When he was on the field, Ellington was electric. He ran for 686 yards and 10 touchdowns while splitting carries with Jamie Harper, who has moved on to the NFL. Now that he is the featured back, Ellington should soar past the 1,000-yard mark. Helping him out are four returning starters on the offensive line, led by center Dalton Freeman, who is on the Remington Award watch list. And the Tigers can do some damage through the air, too, thanks to DeAndre Hopkins, who led the team with 626 receiving yards as a freshman. Defensively, Clemson suffered some major losses from the ACC’s second-ranked unit, but the line should still be a strength with end Andre Branch and noseguard Brandon Thompson in the trenches.
Weaknesses:
Quarterback Kyle Parker was one of the conference’s most disappointing players in 2010. He saw his touchdown passes fall from 20 in ’09 to 12 and his interceptions rise from 11 to 12. Parker, who seemed to be distracted by his promising future in baseball, did not exactly win over the locker room with his leadership skills. So now that Tajh Boyd is in command, it might be a case of addition by subtraction. Still, Boyd will have to show more than he did last year, when he completed only 52 percent of his passes. The sophomore has the physical skills to do a good impression of Cam Newton in Morris’s system. His weak showing in the spring game, however, indicates that there will be some growing pains this season. Boyd would be helped greatly if the Tigers had more dependable receiving options than just Hopkins. On the other side of the ball, Clemson not only has to overcome the losses of second-round draft picks Da’Quan Bowers and Jarvis Jenkins from the line, it also must find some playmakers at linebacker and replace three key members of the secondary.
The Bottom Line:
It is understandable that Clemson fans are a little restless considering the Tigers have not won an ACC championship since 1991. But Coach Swinney probably should be given some slack. While the Tigers laid an egg in his first full year on the job, he did bring in a heralded recruiting class to augment a roster that already has several promising players. And if Morris can kick the offense into high gear, then the Tigers should be much more entertaining, win or lose. It will probably take at least one full season for everything to come together, but brighter days appear to be coming for Clemson.
Projected Bowl: Independence Bowl
2010 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 139.00 (79th in nation, 7th in conference)
Passing Offense: 195.62 (78, 9)
Total Offense: 334.62 (88, 10)
Scoring Offense: 24.00 (86, 10)
Rushing Defense: 128.46 (28, 5)
Pass Defense: 191.85 (22, 2)
Total Defense: 320.31 (19, 2)
Scoring Defense: 18.77 (13, 1)
Turnover Margin: -.23 (69, 8)
Sacks: 2.38 (32, 5)
Sacks Allowed: 1.38 (26, 3)
Madness 2012 NFL Draft Rankings
#79 Andre Branch
#83 Brandon Thompson
Madness 2011 NFL Recruit Rankings
#12 Stephone Anthony
#16 Tony Steward
#22 Sammy Watkins
#46 Mike Bellamy
#48 Charone Peake
#160 Lateek Townsend
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