A year ago, the Clemson Tigers led the nation in returning production entering the 2025 college football season.
Fat lot of good it did the Tigers, who stumbled from a No. 4 preseason ranking to a 7-5 regular season that saw their national title expectations go up in smoke before the end of September following losses to LSU, Georgia Tech and, inexplicably, a Syracuse team that would end the year ranked near the bottom of all Power 4 teams.
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Coach Dabo Swinney repeatedly took the blame for Clemson‘s bellyflop, which ended with a lifeless performance in the Pinstripe Bowl against another of college football’s chief 2025 busts: Penn State.
Entering 2026, the Tigers don’t return as much production, but they do rank ahead of some of their ACC peers and even a couple of College Football Playoff teams.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly recently ranked all 138 FBS teams by returning production. Clemson was No. 59 on the list with a net production value of 53 percent, one spot ahead of Louisville and 19 spots ahead of the Miami Hurricanes. Alabama, another College Football Playoff team in 2025 like Miami, was No. 90.
To break down Clemson’s returning production by unit, Connelly ranked the Tigers’ defense 26th nationally in terms of returning players (61 percent). That’s one spot below Ole Miss, which reached the CFP semifinals. The offense, with Chad Morris back in the mix at offensive coordinator, ranked 94th (46 percent).
On the defensive side, linebacker Sammy Brown returns for his junior season after leading the team in tackles (106 total, 51 solo). The consensus five-star recruit also had five sacks, five pass breakups and an interception while playing in all 13 games.
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Defensive end Will Heldt is another big name who returns following a strong season in his first year with the Tigers after transferring from Purdue. Heldt was Clemson’s sack leader with 7.5 sacks in 13 games, which eclipsed that of T.J. Parker and Peter Woods, two players bound for the upcoming NFL Draft.
On offense, Clemson lost senior quarterback Cade Klubnik (2,943 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, six interceptions) to the draft along with receiver Antonio Williams (55 catches, 604 yards, four touchdowns) and starting running back Adam Randall (168 carries, 814 yards, 10 touchdowns).
The Tigers return leading receiver T.J. Moore (52 catches, 837 yards) and former five-star recruit Bryant Wesco (31 catches, 537 yards in six games). With Randall gone, consensus four-star recruit Gideon Davidson (60 carries, 260 yards) is in prime position to take the reins at tailback.
ACC football teams ranked by returning production entering 2026
Sep 6, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; A view of the ACC logo on an end zone pylon during the game between the SMU Mustangs and the Baylor Bears at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Clemson placed second in the ACC in ESPN’s returning production rankings.
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Here’s a look at ACC teams ranked 1-17 in Bill Connelly’s rankings for 2026.
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16. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (49 percent, No. 79 nationally)
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15. Miami Hurricanes (49 percent, No. 78 nationally)
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13. Boston College Eagles (50 percent, No. 73 nationally)
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12. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (53 percent, No. 62 nationally)
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11. Louisville Cardinals (53 percent, No. 60 nationally)
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9. NC State Wolfpack (54 percent, No. 58 nationally)
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7. California Golden Bears (58 percent, No. 43 nationally)
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6. Pittsburgh Panthers (58 percent, No. 41 nationally)
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5. Virginia Cavaliers (59 percent, No. 36 nationally)
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4. Stanford Cardinal (60 percent, No. 33 nationally)
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3. Syracuse Orange (62 percent, No. 27 nationally)
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2. SMU Mustangs (62 percent, No. 22 nationally)
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1. Virginia Tech (69 percent net production, No. 4 nationally)
Clemson football schedule 2026
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Sept. 12: vs. Georgia Southern
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Sept. 19: vs. North Carolina
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Oct. 17: vs. Charleston Southern
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Oct. 24: vs. Virginia Tech
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Oct. 31: at Florida State
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Nov. 14: vs. Georgia Tech
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Nov. 28: vs. South Carolina
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football returning production for 2026 season, ranked by ESPN
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