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2025 Clemson

7–⁠6 (4–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Dabo Swinney.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 2025, game by game: lost vs. No. 9 LSU 10–17; won vs. Troy 27–16; lost at Georgia Tech 21–24; lost vs. Syracuse 21–34; won at North Carolina 38–10; won at Boston College 41–10; lost vs. SMU 24–35; lost vs. Duke 45–46; won vs. Florida State 24–10; won at No. 19 Louisville 20–19; won vs. Furman 45–10; won at South Carolina 28–14; lost vs. Penn State 10–22+35−13Lost 10–17 vs. No. 9 LSU-7No. 9 LSUWon 27–16 vs. Troy+11TroyLost 21–24 at Georgia Tech-3Georgia TechLost 21–34 vs. Syracuse-13SyracuseWon 38–10 at North Carolina+28North CarolinaWon 41–10 at Boston College+31Boston CollegeLost 24–35 vs. SMU-11SMULost 45–46 vs. Duke-1DukeWon 24–10 vs. Florida State+14Florida StateWon 20–19 at No. 19 Louisville+1No. 19 LouisvilleWon 45–10 vs. Furman+35FurmanWon 28–14 at South Carolina+14South CarolinaLost 10–22 vs. Penn State-12Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vs9LSUL 10–⁠1760%
Sep 6vsTroyW 27–⁠1669%
Sep 13atGeorgia TechL 21–⁠2450%
Sep 20vsSyracuseL 21–⁠3462%
Oct 4atNorth CarolinaW 38–⁠1055%
Oct 11atBoston CollegeW 41–⁠1064%
Oct 18vsSMUL 24–⁠3556%
Nov 1vsDukeL 45–⁠4656%
Nov 8vsFlorida StateW 24–⁠1071%
Nov 14at19LouisvilleW 20–⁠1935%
Nov 22vsFurmanW 45–⁠1091%
Nov 29atSouth CarolinaW 28–⁠1451%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsPenn StatePinstripe BowlL 10–⁠2246%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 22–⁠10 in the Pinstripe Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 40th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 2: 8
  3. Wk 3: 12
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 8th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 4
Points
354–⁠267
Coach
Dabo Swinney
Elo
1617 −9 this season
SP+ rating
9.5 No. 34 of 136; offense No. 65, defense No. 24, special teams No. 41
SRS
6.2 No. 42 of 136 in FBS
Returning
83% of last season’s EPA, No. 4 of 134
Recruiting class
No. 26 roster talent No. 7 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Garrett Riley, Kyle Richardson and Matt Luke
Defensive coordinators
Tom Allen and Nick Eason
Offense
Dirt raid
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense73rd of 136
  • Defense30th of 136
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted66th of 136
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted35th of 136
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0842%1.1873rd of 136
Defense0.0339%1.3130th of 136
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
0.03 def		43% off
37% def		—66th off
35th def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense44%7.0 yds11%3.0016%
Defense39%7.6 yds8%3.0019%
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.8own 3015% allowed
Defense2.7own 2720% caused

CORE rating 3.9, 52nd of 136 (offense -0.6, defense -4.5).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsCade Klubnik QB2,943 yds
Passing touchdownsCade Klubnik QB16 TD
Rushing yardsAdam Randall RB814 yds
Rushing touchdownsAdam Randall RB10 TD
Receiving yardsT.J. Moore WR837 yds
Receiving touchdownsBryant Wesco Jr. WR6 TD
TacklesSammy Brown LB107 tkl
SacksWill Heldt DE6 sacks
InterceptionsRicardo Jones S6 INT

Top recruits in the 2025 class

Amare Adams DL★★★★★No. 22
Gideon Davidson RB★★★★No. 69
Brayden Jacobs OT★★★★No. 178
Marquise Henderson RB★★★★No. 183
Ari Watford DE★★★★No. 209
Logan Anderson LB★★★★No. 263
Easton Ware OL★★★★No. 404

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2025 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.881
Running backs24.00.947
Receivers23.00.886
Offensive line53.40.888
Defensive line34.00.928
Linebackers14.00.911
Defensive backs13.00.890
Whole class153.50.905

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2026

The 2026 draft
Rd 1Blake Miller OTDetroit Lions
Rd 1Peter Woods DTKansas City Chiefs
Rd 2T.J. Parker DEBuffalo Bills
Rd 2Avieon Terrell CBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 3Antonio Williams WRWashington Commanders
Rd 4Cade Klubnik QBNew York Jets
Rd 4Wade Woodaz LBHouston Texans
Rd 5DeMonte Capehart DTTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Adam Randall RBBaltimore Ravens

Roster 126

The 2025 roster

126 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2025 line; 73 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 4

The 2025 portal
Will Heldt DE★★★★from Purdue
Jeremiah Alexander LB★★★from Alabama
Tristan Smith WR★★★from Southeast Missouri State
Hayes Galloway OLfrom North Carolina

Transfers out 9

Tre Williams DL★★★★to Michigan
A.J. Hoffler DE★★★to Georgia Tech
Marquise Henderson RB★★★no new school on file
Troy Stellato WR★★★to Kentucky
Noble Johnson WR★★★to Arizona State
Sherrod Covil Jr. S★★★to Virginia Tech
Tavoy Feagin CB★★★to Ole Miss
Caleb Nix S★★to Jacksonville State
Jackson Crosby WRto East Tennessee State

2025 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia7–⁠211–⁠316
Miami6–⁠213–⁠32
SMU6–⁠29–⁠4
Georgia Tech6–⁠29–⁠4
Duke6–⁠29–⁠5
Pittsburgh6–⁠28–⁠5
NC State5–⁠48–⁠5
Louisville4–⁠49–⁠4
Wake Forest4–⁠49–⁠4
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠6
California4–⁠47–⁠6
Stanford3–⁠54–⁠8
Florida State2–⁠65–⁠7
North Carolina2–⁠64–⁠8
Virginia Tech2–⁠63–⁠9
Syracuse1–⁠73–⁠9
Boston College1–⁠72–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.