David Pollack has Clemson football in his top-5 teams heading into 2025

Yet another college football analyst is hyping up the 2025 Clemson Tigers. Monday, David Pollack, a former ESPN analyst who is the host of David Pollack College Football on YouTube, released his top five programs heading to 2025 and Clemson was among the teams he listed.

In fact, Pollack has the Tigers checking in at No. 4 in his early top five. That’s as high as any expert has put the Tigers thus far in any of the early projections for next fall.

One reason Pollack is high on the Tigers is the return of senior quarterback Cade Klubnik. Pollack expects Klubnik to be one of the best QBs in the country in 2025.

“I saw enough from Klubnik to say he’s gonna be in the Heisman Trophy discussion next year,” he said. “Like, his top three receivers are back. Their offensive line was not elite, was not great by any stretch.”

This past season, Klubnik was terrific throwing for 3,639 yards and 36 TDs with only six interceptions. What’s more, he ran for 463 more yards and seven more touchdowns as he guided the Tigers to an ACC championship and a birth in the College Football Playoff.

Next season, many think that Klubnik will be the best quarterback in the ACC and he could be the best in the country if he takes another step forward in year four as a collegiate. However, that’s not the only reason Pollack is big on Clemson’s chances in 2025.

“And here’s the thing,” he said, “Dabo Swinney is a guy that has always stuck to his guns. What does that mean? No transfer portal. Already addressing that, which I think is big. Needs to do that. Another thing Dabo Swinney has always done – hired from within, his guys. He just went and got his defensive coordinator. He went to Penn State to get Tom Allen, who is a great fit for the culture. Like, that dude, he is so aligned with Dabo, but he’s great with Xs and Os. They gave up way too much in the run game, they made it way too easy on opponents.”

Many people have been critical of Swinney’s stubbornness when it came to accepting the new ways of the college football world. However, this offseason, by dabbling a little in the transfer portal to help his defense and by bringing in a fresh voice in Allen to run that side of the ball, he’s given us resons to think that he’s willing to do what is needed to get his program back among the elites of the sport.

“I think Clemson immediately jumps back in the fray, they’re in the mix in the ACC. I think they’ll be the best team with all those things going for them,” Pollack said.

Pollack’s top five consists of Penn State at No. 5, Clemson at No. 4, Oregon at No. 3, Ohio State at No. 2, and Texas at No. 1. Of course, Clemson lost to the Longhorns in round one of the CFP in January.

However, the expectation for 2025 is a deeper run in the postseason from Clemson. Hopefully, the Tigers will live up to Pollack’s hype and prove that they belong back among the elite programs in the nation.