Greg McElroy sets ‘sky high’ expectations for Clemson entering season

It feels like the 2010s again at Clemson. The Tigers are entering the 2025 campaign as one of the top teams in the country and are expected to be in the hunt for the national title in January. On Thursday, ESPN’s Greg McElroy revealed his expectations for Clemson in the upcoming season.

“The expectations are sky high,” McElroy said. “It feels like 2025 has been the year that they’ve circled for quite some time. They have veterans in pivotal places. They even got to the portal in a couple spots to reinforce some places that had some depth issues from a year ago.

“It all starts, though, with Cade Klubnik. Great year in 2024 after what was kind of a learning-curve year in ’23. It feels like he’s poised to take the next step. I think you can make a strong argument that he’s the best quarterback returning in college football.”

Klubnik had a breakout season in 2024, tallying 3,639 passing yards and 36 touchdowns while only throwing six interceptions. His 36 touchdown passes were the third-most in the country last season, only trailing Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, both of whom have moved onto the next level.

Klubnik won’t have a shortage of targets. Clemson is returning its top-three leading receivers from last season: Antonio Williams, Bryant Wesco Jr. and TJ Moore. The Tigers defense should be stellar, as well.

“The defense in the front seven should be outstanding. It’s been really good for a long time — should come as no surprise,” McElroy said. “I absolutely love the defensive coordinator hire of Tom Allen. Tom Allen was at Penn State last year. He’s aggressive. He’s disciplined. They can do a lot of different things.

“When you watch Tom Allen in the past, everywhere he’s been, whether it was at Indiana, at Penn State — even as a coordinator, prior to becoming a head coach — his guys have always played outrageously hard for him.”

Clemson hired Tom Allen after firing defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin in January. With eight defensive starters returning for Clemson, Allen will have a surplus of weapons at his disposal. Allen is expected to help Clemson’s defense make major strides.

Last season, Clemson’s defense allowed 374.1 yards per game, ranking No. 69 in the country. In comparison, Allen’s Penn State defense gave up just 294.8 yards per game, the seventh-least in the nation.

“Clemson has as many known commodities on their roster as anyone in college football,” McElroy said. “Penn State might have a few more superstar pieces, but I don’t think Clemson takes a back seat to very many. They have everything you could possibly want to make a national championship run.”