Not only are they hoping to put together a bounce back year and get themselves into national championship contention, but they are also battling the ACC in court and are mulling a decision to leave the conference.

The first part is much simpler than the latter.

Dabo Swinney is going to have another elite defense this season, so it will be on the shoulders of former top high school quarterback, Cade Klubnik, to live up to the hype that was placed on him when the five-star committed to Clemson.

There seems to be some confidence he will take the next step, but until that happens on the field in the heat of battle, there will still be some skeptics out there who think the junior isn’t the answer to get this program back into the promised land as national champions.

All of that will be proven on the field.

Either Clemson is good enough to play their way into the College Football Playoff, or they aren’t.

When it comes to the ongoing legal battle between the university and ACC, that is much more complicated and nuanced.

Rumors have been circulating for a while that Clemson is trying to leave the conference, something that would need to be figured out in court because of contracts, media rights and a whole bunch of other issues that going to a different conference would present.

If that’s the case, there is one high-profile commissioner who would be more than willing to take a national brand like Clemson.

But, for all the talk about the Tigers looking to exit, Pete Thamel of ESPN reports they aren’t expected to notify the ACC about their intent to leave before the August 15 deadline that would allow them to depart before the 2025-26 season.