Herbstreit says Clemson ‘A Team You Better Look out For’

Kirk Herbstreit says people are sleeping on Dabo Swinney and his Clemson football team entering the 2024 season.

However, ESPN’s lead college football analyst certainly isn’t one of those people.

“Clemson, to me, is a team you better look out for,” Herbstreit said Saturday morning during ESPN’s College GameDay show.

Herbstreit thinks people are playing right into Clemson’s and Swinney’s hands by mocking him for not using the transfer portal, and people such as ESPN personality Paul Finebaum saying Swinney is “way behind” the times of the current college football landscape.

“Everybody’s making fun of Dabo, everybody’s talking about ‘he’s not doing the portal,’ everybody’s talking about how ‘he’s being left behind,’” Herbstreit said.

Clemson has won eight ACC Championships during Swinney’s tenure as head coach. He has led the Tigers to conference titles in seven of the last nine years, including six straight from 2015-20 and Clemson’s most recent conference title in 2022.

Herbstreit believes Swinney and the Tigers will add to their trophy case this season, as Herbstreit picked Clemson to win the ACC Championship in 2024 — and receive a first-round bye in the 12-team College Football Playoff (as one of the four highest-ranked conference champions).

“(Swinney’s) defense will be good and keep them in every game they play,” Herbstreit said. “His quarterback now has a lot of experience. They’ve got skill and they’re better at receiver.”

Added Herbstreit: “Clemson, I think, is a very dangerous team.”

The 14th-ranked Tigers are set to kick off this season against No. 1 Georgia in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday, Aug. 31 (12 p.m., ABC).

–Photo courtesy Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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