Joel Klatt addresses Clemson's ranking in Way-Too-Early Top-10

Clemson has done and is doing enough this offseason to be one of top teams going into next year for Joel Klatt.

Klatt broke down his placement of the Tigers in seventh in his Way-Too-Early Top-10 on his show last week. That was notable as he felt there was some difference between the top-six and the rest of the teams that he considered for this list overall.

“Now, to be fair, this was one of the harder ones,” said Klatt. “So, Clemson – I put at the top of this entire list. And, to be very fair, someone could have talked me into Clemson being 15th. That’s how close I think seven to about eighteen are. All the teams that I mentioned before I got into the top-ten? All of ’em could be sprinkled in to these four spots.”

However, Clemson took this slot in returning pieces from a roster that won the ACC Championship and, with that, returned to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020. They’ll now pair that with three additions from out of the portal, which ties as many as they took in the other past portal cycles combined.

“I love Clemson and what they’re doing,” Klatt said. “I love the fact that (Cade) Klubnik is back for his third year as the starter in the same offense. Dabo Swinney is finally, wait for it – dabbling in the portal? Huh? Okay, here we go! Clemson – starting to dabble in the portal a little bit.

“I think that their roster could be a little bit better … Klubnik is there. Four of five offensive linemen back,” Klatt continued. “Look at what they did against Texas even on the road. They got to the playoff. They won the ACC.”

With that, Klatt is also expecting an improvement on defense for them under their new coordinator in Tom Allen. His work plus their players that he’ll have to work with should get them back to being closer to some of the units they had previously on that side of the ball.

“The defense was not up to Clemson’s standard and now they’re going to go out and I think they’ll be improved,” said Klatt. “Tom Allen comes in…Tom Allen is a very good football coach. I’ve enjoyed covering Tom Allen, both from his time as a head coach at Indiana and then last year as a coordinator (at Penn State). He’s really good and he will improve Clemson’s defense. I don’t think that there’s any, any question in my mind. Despite, I think, a disappointment as a group, there are some pieces there on the defensive side. You’ve got T.J. Parker – he had 11 sacks this last year. Peter Woods in the interior – he’s a good player. Sammy Brown – Freshman All-American this last season. So Tom Allen is going to have some pieces.”

Finally, Klatt also likes the look of the schedule for Clemson. They’ll play a tough opener at home but will, from there, have their shot at contention again in the ACC as well as for the CFP.

“Their schedule? They open with a home game against LSU. That’s going to be great. They’re both in my Top-10,” said Klatt. “They don’t play Miami in the ACC. They get SMU at home.”

Clemson, despite a similar record as the last four years, returned to contention this past season as they won their conference and returned to the playoff. Now, with much of that team back, Klatt has them in his top-ten early on going into next fall.

“I like what Clemson is doing,” Klatt said. “That’s why I’ve got them at number seven.”