SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Paul Myerberg and Nancy Armour break down Alabama's victory over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, the third consecutive College Football Playoff matchup between the two programs. USA TODAY Sports
NEW ORLEANS — Coaching might be the only profession that rewards a narrow focus. Even as teams prepare for postseason play, it’s rare to see or hear a head coach openly discuss the following season. Instead, coaches stay focused on the here and now, as if even mentioning the future will provide too great a distraction for the present.
But Clemson coach Dabo Swinney did let his feelings slip in the days leading into the Sugar Bowl, an eventual 24-6 Alabama win that ended Clemson’s season two victories away from a defense of its national championship.
“This team has been really special because this is a so-called rebuilding year for us,” Swinney said. “We've only got six seniors. We're one of the youngest teams in college football. So, I think we have a chance to be pretty good next year if we don't screw it up.”
The Tigers will have to carry the pain of that Sugar Bowl loss all offseason, but they need only to look to the opposing sideline to see how one loss can fuel a program’s resurgence. After having weeks to stew over an Iron Bowl loss to Auburn, the Crimson Tide then spent days hearing about the loss to Clemson a year ago. Alabama was angry on Monday night, and it showed.
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MORE: First-year Clemson QB Bryant harried by 'Bama defense
“The credit goes to Alabama,” Swinney said. “They were the better team today. No question about it.”
The last time the Tigers fell to the Tide, two seasons ago, it propelled the program to a national title. Clemson will return enough talent and experience in 2018 to once again be a major player in the title chase, if not one of the top three or four teams in the country.
On paper, the Tigers will return 18 starters, nine apiece on offense and defense. But it won’t be that large a number: Clemson likely will lose several players a year ahead of schedule to the NFL Draft, with defensive linemen Christian Wilkins, Austin Bryant and Clelin Ferrell among those who viewed by talent evaluators as among the top talents at their respective positions.
There’s still defensive line talent in reserve to help fill the gaps in the depth chart if needed, and the Tigers should be stronger at linebacker and in the secondary. That would be doubly true should junior safety Van Smith opt to return for his final season.
Pushed around by Alabama, the offensive line will rebound behind senior-to-be Mitch Hyatt, a likely preseason All-America pick. The receiver corps should remain intact, though a contributor such as Deon Cain could test the draft waters. Barring a transfer, the Tigers will return every single contributor who made a carry in the running game in 2017.
There will be no questioning Clemson’s talent, experience, depth and drive. There’s no doubting the coaching staff, which is expected to stand pat; landing another year of defensive coordinator Brent Venables is a huge coup for Clemson, for example. There’s still one major situation for Swinney and the Tigers to handle, and it will drum up enough controversy to potentially loom over the team’s entire spring and summer.
Is Kelly Bryant the unquestioned starter at quarterback? His was a season of swings: Bryant started slowly, picked up steam and eventually earned the trust of his coaches yet was uneven against the Tide, if not helped at all by a porous offensive line and a sloppy performance from his surrounding skill talent.
All told, the question facing Clemson coaches asks whether Bryant has earned the right to maintain his grasp on the job heading into the spring, or if the Tigers would be helped by opening up the competition. Remember that Clemson has options, from sophomore backups Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson through incoming freshman Trevor Lawrence, considered by many to be the top prospect in his class regardless of his position.
That’s the big cloud looming over Clemson. In a way, it also says something about the program: The Tigers have options at quarterback and elsewhere. And it’s not like Bryant’s play is an overwhelming concern — he did lead this year’s team to the College Football Playoff in his debut, and could very well take a significant step forward heading into his senior year.
“I tell our guys all the time, it's always about what is next. And we're going to learn and grow and always get better,” Swinney said.
“My expectation is to be right back here next year, right back in the middle of it, right back in the thick of it. We have got a heck of a team coming back. We're going to have a much more experienced team next year than we had this year. And they will be eager to get back to work.”
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