Riley Morningstar

It was just 27 days ago when eventual national champion Alabama Crimson Tide resoundingly smashed Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, suffocating the Tigers offense to just two field goals.

Everyone knows what happened the week after: Nick Saban went on to collect his sixth national title, further cementing his legendary status and inserted freshman Tua Tagovailoa to awaken a sputtering offense led by Jalen Hurts. Georgia was within reach of a national championship, but fell victim to a fatal bust in coverage in overtime to slip through its hands.

Afterward, the common Twitter fan believed it was Alabama and everyone else playing for second. The Tigers didn’t belong among the elites and had a once-in-a-generation player in Deshaun Watson that led the program to the promised land. When the lights came on in the Superdome, we saw Clemson to simply be one-and-done.

That’s the ill-advised perception that some came away with after New Year’s Day this season.

Back in South Carolina, folks were anticipating early NFL entrance announcements from three defensive line behemoths in Austin Bryant, Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins. Mock drafts had Ferrell and Wilkins as first round picks, with Bryant going anywhere between the second and third rounds. Rising Junior Dexter Lawrence has been branded as a top-five pick in the 2019 draft. Was there any legitimate chance that this group could bring all three back to take another shot for a national title?

This particular group was a force in college football that few could block this past season. The Clemson defense tied for first for sacks on the season at 46 (3.29 per game), fourth in total defense (276.7), and sixth in tackles for loss (109).

As fans awaited the three defensive linemen’s decisions, receivers Deon Cain, Ray-Ray McCloud, and safety Van Smith did decide to enter early, each with their own personal reasons. But with all the talent flowing in at receiver, it’s certainly possible that the numbers wouldn’t have improved  for Cain and McCloud, seeing as it would only hurt to return for one more year.

It wasn’t difficult to see the unique bond between this group of guys, constantly encouraging each other and those that played behind them. As January 15th drew closer and no noise on decisions, it certainly felt possible that all three could return.

And so they did.

Bryant and Ferrell announced shortly after the team banquet on the 13th that they would be back for the upcoming season. Hours before the midnight deadline on January 15th, the Clemson Football twitter account dropped this bomb.

Confused by the Power Rangers element? On Halloween in 2016,  defensive tackles Jabrill and Carlos Watkins (both graduated) joined Ferrell, Lawrence, and Wilkins in a bizarre, yet hilarious costume choice that evening. How many 290+ pound human beings can you think of that would do the same? It’s just another really cool piece of this story in the rare love this group has for each other. It’s also quite hilarious:

Left to Right: Lawrence, Wilkins, Robinson, Ferrell, and Watkins

So what’s next for this Clemson team?

Their current recruiting class has a star average rating of four (ranking third) according to Rivals.com, and essentially just returned three five-stars in their own right. Lawrence was never fully healthy after breaking his right foot last spring. He’ll be completely healthy by the time spring practice begins. They also brought in two five-star defensive ends in K.J. Henry and Xavier Thomas that’ll fully take advantage of learning from the inseparable returning group. Quarterback Kelly Bryant has another offseason to grow as a decision maker and passer, but touted-freshman Trevor Lawrence presumably looms large in looking to secure that starting role.

Without the returns that Dabo Swinney landed, it’s possible to see this as another “rebuilding” year, especially on the defensive side of the ball, forcing some youngsters into prominent roles. A two-loss regular season is conceivable.

But that didn’t happen and the Tigers landed this schedule:

Furman, @Texas A&M, Georgia Southern, @Georgia Tech, Syracuse, @Wake Forest, OFF, N.C. State, @Florida State, Louisville, @Boston College, Duke, and South Carolina.

No Thursday or Friday games. No back-to-back road games. Mercy.

Sure, Pittsburgh happened two years ago and Syracuse this past season but, please, entertain me in saying there’s one loss on that schedule.

Clemson will have another target on its back entering the season, but you can bet Swinney will hammer home what happened in the Sugar Bowl.

An offense that looked scared and a defense that wasn’t getting through to the quarterback is the message that’ll be driven into the mindset of this upcoming team.

The leadership is there for the Tigers, and the tone is set with the monsters on the defensive line that ultimately decided to give it one last ride.

There won’t be any backing down from that group; just putting opposing linemen and quarterbacks on theirs.