Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers saw their 2024 season come to an end due to their College Football Playoff loss against the Texas Longhorns.

Even though they were unable to pull off the upset, Clemson was simply excited to get into the playoff. They were not expected to get that far and in doing so, has set the program up for future success.

Heading into the offseason, the Tigers will be bringing in fresh talent in their recruiting class and Swinney has also dipped his toes into the transfer portal already.

They have added both defensive end Will Heldt and wide receiver Tristan Smith in the transfer portal, which is not usually a tool that Swinney likes to use.

With that being said, Clemson has received a favorable outlook for the future.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly shared a very positive take about the Tigers moving forward.

“Swinney has already secured commitments from a pair of transfers — almost literally his first dalliance with a portal that almost completely sculpted two other surprise CFP teams (Indiana and SMU). We’ll see if he pursues any changes to a defensive coaching staff that hasn’t been nearly as effective since Brent Venables’ departure for Oklahoma three years ago. But even with some philosophical shifts there, one has to be excited about the upside returning in the passing game, at least if Klubnik returns, as anticipated. The junior threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns this season, and his three leading receivers were a sophomore (Antonio Williams) and two freshmen (Bryant Wesco Jr. and Saturday night star T.J. Moore). With a bit more development, Clemson will have its best receiving corps since at least 2019. Figure out how to make a few more stops, and they’ll be in business.”

Klubnik took a big step forward this season. It is very unlikely that he will try his chances at the 2025 NFL Draft and will probably return to try and improve his value even further for the 2026 draft class.

He ended up completing 63.4 percent of his pass attempts for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns, and just six interceptions. In addition to his passing numbers, he racked up 463 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

Now that the quarterback situation seems to be in a great place, the rest of the team can improve around Klubnik.

Swinney has done an excellent job of adding young talent throughout the roster. There is plenty of room for growth from within the roster from the 2024 season.

Adding the recruiting class and a couple of quality transfer commitments will make Clemson a highly competitive football team in 2025.

While the season didn’t end how Swinney and the fan base had dreamed, there are a lot of reasons to be excited and optimistic about next saeson.