"They had the 'you suck' poison": Dabo Swinney raises eyebrows with wild comparison of Cade Klubnik & Co. to the championship winning Clemson team

The Clemson Tigers are a potential contender for the national championship this year. If they areable to do so, it will be their first national championship since 2016.

During a press conference before the Tigers week 3 clash with Georgia Tech coach Dabo Swinney made a interesting comparison between his current side and the one that won the championship in 2016.

"I feel like I'm living 2016 all over again. This group ain't had the rat poison. They've just had the "you suck" poison."

That side featured the likes of Deshaun Watson, Hunter Renfrow and Jordan Leggett in it.

They were able to win the national championship with a near perfect season, with their only loss coming against Pittsburgh in the middle of the season. That game was very close, with the Panthers winning by one point.

Close games were something that this Clemson team was used to.

In the entire season, seven of their 14 wins were within seven points.

This is a record for the CFB era of College Football, and this included the national championship game, which the Tigers won 35-31.

How do the 2025 Clemson Tigers compare?

The 2025 Clemson Tigers are (if the first two games of the season are anything to go by) going to have a similar season to the 2016 Tigers.

While it may not end in a national championship, a lot of these games are going to be close affairs.

To open their season, Clemson were defeated by LSU by seven points. This was to be expected in the battle between two close teams.

However, last weekend, in what should have been a easy game against the Troy Trojans, Clemson would only beat them by nine points.

Interestingly, Clemson also played Troy in week two of their 2016 season, where they won by six points.

The Tigers are currently playing Georgia Tech, and it looks like this is going to be another close game that is likely to be decided by seven points.

About the author

Ben Tredinnick is a journalist who covers college football and the NFL at Sportskeeda who is currently studying for a masters in Data Science. His degree in Psychology has helped him gain an in-depth understanding of the minds of coaches.

Ben has been involved in sports writing since 2022 and covered the NFL previously. His strengths include providing in-depth profiles of athletes and coaches, with a particular focus on development, and looking at which teams could be in the hunt for today's college stars.

Ben enjoys following college sports more than the NBA or NFL because there is more variation in terms of playstyles. The tournaments are often more competitive than the major leagues, and due to the constant turnover of players, there are rarely any "superteams" in college sports.

He prioritizes research, looks at multiple sources and publications to make sure he gets the full picture of the story before writing. He tries not to write from a one-sided perspective to allow the reader to be able to make their mind up on their own.

A Texas Longhorns fan, as well as a massive New York Giants fan, some of his favorite college players of all time are Arch Manning, Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush.

When he is not working, Ben enjoys watching films (especially Godzilla) and spending time with his cat.

Know More

Clemson Tigers Fan? Check out the latest Tigers depth chart, schedule, and roster updates all in one place.

Edited by Ben Tredinnick