Why a record-setting NFL Draft makes Clemson’s 2025 season even tougher to swallow
On Thursday, Clemson football produced two NFL first-round draft picks.
As he watched Blake Miller and Peter Woods’ names flash across the stage in Pittsburgh, though, ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. wasn’t focused on the record draft haul ahead for coach Dabo Swinney’s program.
He was talking about how little the Tigers did with all of that talent in 2025.
“I don’t know what happened. Something was affecting this Clemson Tigers football team,” Kiper said on ESPN’s broadcast. “They were an underachiever all year.”
By Saturday, the contrast was even greater.
Not only did Clemson tie its record for picks in a seven-round draft, but all nine of Clemson’s 2026 NFL Draft picks were taken in the top five rounds. That’s a strong indicator of the pound-for-pound talent on Swinney’s 2025 roster.
And yet Clemson … started 3-5? Finished 7-6? Went from the preseason No. 4 team and a near-unanimous College Football Playoff pick to losing in the Pinstripe Bowl?
Kiper, ESPN’s lead draft analyst since 1984, wasn’t the only person who struggled to make sense of Clemson’s undeniable talent not matching its results.
The Tigers’ team-wide struggles in 2025 were a talking point all weekend: On social media, on draft broadcasts and even in post-draft interview sessions with players like DT Woods (Chiefs), DE T.J. Parker (Bills) and QB Cade Klubnik (Jets).
Swinney said Clemson’s shortcomings boiled down to one person: Himself.
“There’s a reason people picked us to be a top-5 team last year,” he told ESPN’s David Hale. “We were really talented. I didn’t get it done as their leader.”
Clemson’s paradox: 9 draft picks vs. 7 wins
Clemson’s nine NFL draft picks tied for the most in the ACC with Miami and were tied for No. 4 nationally behind Ohio State (11), Alabama (10) and Texas A&M (10).
Clemson also out-produced 2025 national champion Indiana and SEC stalwart Georgia in draft picks (those teams had eight apiece) and was one of only two schools to land nine players in the top five rounds (Ohio State).
Yet of the top six programs in terms NFL draft picks produced (Texas Tech also had nine), Clemson was the only team that didn’t reach the 12-team CFP in 2025.
Make it the top nine, and the only two teams that didn’t reach the College Football Playoff were Clemson and Penn State, another preseason AP top 5 team that flopped and wound up firing its coach, James Franklin, midseason.
Research from ESPN’s Hale shows Clemson’s regular-season record to draft contrast was historically poor. In the CFP era (since 2014), 38 teams have produced nine or more draft picks. In 36 instances, the team in question won nine-plus games.
The only two exceptions? 2021 LSU, which fired coach Ed Orgeron midseason, and 2025 Clemson. The Tigers’ 7-6 record stands out even more considering the average winning percentage of other teams in their shoes was .867, or a roughly 11-2 record.
“You do this long enough, you’re going to have a year like that,” Swinney told Hale.
Dabo: ‘It’s nobody’s fault but mine’
As Swinney noted during a pre-draft appearance on “The Jim Rome Show” earlier this month, Clemson’s 7-6 record (its worst finish since 2010) featured some outliers.
Clemson remains the national leader in winning percentage in one-score games since 2011. Yet the Tigers were 1-3 in those games last year, losing to LSU after Klubnik missed an open receiver late, a walk-off loss to Georgia Tech on a 55-yard field goal and a 46-45 loss to Duke after a controversial pass interference call.
Clemson is also a stellar 151-7 (.955) when leading after three quarters since 2011. But the Tigers blew two fourth quarter leads last year — against LSU and Duke.
Football’s a team game and can’t be singularly dominated as often as, say, basketball. Things like injuries and a lack of depth and, yes, the ball bouncing a certain way can greatly impact results and swing game results, even for a loaded roster.
“To me, the head coach should make the difference in close games, and I didn’t do that,” Swinney said on the radio, adding of the 2025 season: “I screwed it all up.”
That Clemson rallied to win four straight games after a 3-5 start to make a bowl game shouldn’t be overlooked. And various aspects of the program do feel different heading in 2026: Transfer portal usage, support staff, strength and conditioning.
But the facts remain: A highly touted, well-compensated Clemson football roster didn’t get the job done in 2025. A number of key players (think Woods, Parker and Klubnik) either plateaued or regressed from their 2024 production. And Clemson fans tuning into the draft were left wondering what could’ve been — again.
Swinney again emphasized that he’s to blame, not his players.
“All those guys won championships,” he told ESPN. “They all went to the playoff. They all did great things. But last year was a disappointment for everybody, and it’s just nobody’s fault but mine.”
