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Why Dabo Swinney says Clemson football, Cade Klubnik are suffering from preseason 'rat poison'
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- Why Dabo Swinney says Clemson football, Cade Klubnik are suffering from preseason 'rat poison'
CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney is experiencing déjà vu.
The No. 11 Tigers (1-1) started the season against No. 4 LSU , an SEC team, then faced Troy , a Group of Five program. Swinney doesn't believe his team played well in either game, similar to the 2016 season when Clemson opened against Auburn , an SEC school, then narrowly beat Troy.
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"I went back and looked at my notes from 2016 after the Troy game, just curious, and it was like I could have just erased the name, I could have just walked into the team meeting with the same comments," Swinney said Sept. 9.
It gets stranger for Clemson , which begins ACC play against Georgia Tech (2-0) on Sept. 13 (noon ET, ESPN) at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Clemson faced the Yellow Jackets to open conference play in 2016, too, winning 26-7.
Clemson, coming off a 14-1 record and a national championship loss to Alabama , was receiving preseason praise. The Tigers were predicted to face Alabama again in the title game after returning plenty of talent, including quarterback Deshaun Watson , who was a Heisman Trophy favorite.
Clemson survived Auburn in Week 1, winning 19-13 despite Watson struggling, then escaped Troy to win 30-24.
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This year's Tigers are in a similar situation. They were a preseason darling to win the ACC and the national championship after going 10-4 and returning the most production of any FBS team. Quarterback Cade Klubnik had a breakout junior season and entered 2025 as a Heisman contender, with all three of his end-of-year starting wide receivers and four offensive line starters returning.
But the offense has struggled, generating only 10 points in its season-opening loss to LSU and trailing 16-3 to Troy at halftime before an eruption in the second half . Swinney said both of his teams suffered from a form of "rat poison," a phrase coined by former Alabama coach Nick Saban — meaning external noise from the media creates a false sense of confidence that can affect a team's focus.
"Similar to this team, that was the first time (the 2016 team) got all the rat poison," Swinney said. "This group ain't had the rat poison. They've just had the 'You suck poison.' "
Swinney said this is the first time this year's team has had to manage such expectations after Clemson missed the CFP for three straight seasons prior to 2024. He doesn't believe the 2025 Tigers have handled them well, while the 2016 team did. He added that Clemson's punting and special teams were supposed to "suck," according to the preseason pundits, and his offense was supposed to be an unstoppable force.
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He said he warned his 2016 team that if they "keep touching the stove, it's going to burn you," and Clemson suffered a home upset loss to Pitt in November that affected its CFP chances.
For Clemson to avoid a similar fate this season, Swinney said the offense must improve its execution and precision, and clean up "routine stuff" on offense, including throwing passes on time, wide receivers catching throws and all 11 players doing their job rather than nine or 10. He said it has been frustrating because these issues haven't shown up in practice, but they do come up in games.
MORE: How Clemson football new defensive coordinator Tom Allen has boosted Tigers' defense
A silver lining for the Tigers is that they won the national championship in 2016. They are hoping this season ends the same way, but must show progress offensively first.
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"We just as surprised as everyone else," Clemson wide receiver Tyler Brown said. "We been killing it all camp, all practice, and we're still killing it. We just got to make that translation."
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Dabo Swinney says Tigers are battling 'rat poison'
