College GameDay crew debates Clemson's outlook, ability to bounce back in 2022

College GameDay is back and speaking on the biggest topics ahead of the 2022 season, and the Clemson Tigers are a fascinating one.

Debating the future of Dabo Swinney’s program, David Pollack, Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit gave their thoughts on a possible return to glory.

“I think they bounce back, but if we go back to last year, Rece they won ten games,” began Pollack. “The lost to Georgia, the national champions. They lost to Pitt, the ACC champions. They lost to NC State — all of them were great football games, but the offense didn’t pull their weight. Who’s back? The best defensive line in the country. They’re going to make everybody’s life really hard on the defensive side of the football.

“It all revolves around DJ [Uiagalelei]. The new slimmer approach. If he worked on his mechanics. I think it’s going to be interesting to see, because the defense will dominate, but offensively — Kelly Bryant, you referenced that earlier. Will they do what they did with Kelly Bryant and Trevor Lawrence, and Cade Klubnik becomes the guy down the road? Either way, the offense is going to be the tell.”

While Pollack chose to focus on the players Clemson is putting on the field, Howard believes losing their talented coordinators — Tony Elliott and Brent Venables — to head coaching jobs is a cause for concern.

“If you look at what they lost, not just players but coordinators, that causes concern for me. These are two special play-callers,” added Howard. “They lost Tony Elliott. He was offensive coordinator. It takes skill, intuition. It takes a lot to be a play-caller. It doesn’t show up every week. It shows up against opponents who you’re probably kind of equally matched against. Now he’s at UVA, I understand that they hired within. I think that people don’t give the right amount of attention to guys who are long term play-callers, who are successful at it and who are great at it.

“You just don’t step into those shoes and fill in like there’s nothing to it. There’s a rhythm to it. So that’s what I want to see. I want to see how the play-calling happens on offense and defense, because they lost Brent Venables too.”

Finally, Herbstreit believes Clemson has immense potential, but he wants to see it before he believes the hype.

“They got a little bit of a dress rehearsal in that bowl game. The Cheez-It Bowl against Iowa State. I think that’s a legitimate concern until you see it,” Herbstreit said. “I think Dabo’s beyond confident in what they can do on both sides of the ball, and they have history. Remember when Chad Morris was there, and he left to become a head coach. Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott emerged together, becoming co-offensive coordinators. Jeff Scott eventually went on, Tony Elliott was there by himself. Now Brandon Streeter who’s been underneath him as a quarterbacks coach all this time, learning from all of them. So he’s in position, and they’ve done the right things to get him his opportunity to become the guy.

“I think everybody said it — until we see it, it’s reality. And it’s one thing for DJ Uiagalelei to lose the weight, at least for me it’s a willingness to run the ball. Whether it’s Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson, especially Tajh Boyd — in that offense, the quarterback has to be a run threat. Last year, I saw hesitant, a hesitant quarterback instead of being decisive and either getting the ball out and throwing or, running and taking off. So it’s great that he lost weight, but where’s his mind and is he ready to be more aggressive in running the ball, which will open up those throwing lanes to those talented wide receivers.”