The Clemson Tigers have been the topic of many conversations this offseason, whether it be for head coach Dabo Swinney’s comments on the transfer portal or their rating in EA Sports College Football 25. It’s time to add another to the list, with Texas Longhorns DB Andrew Mukuba seemingly throwing shade on his former school.
Texas Safety Andrew Mukuba Takes Shot at Clemson and Dabo Swinney
“My time at Clemson, I felt like I wasn’t really getting better,” Mukuba said on the Behind The Facemask podcast. “I wasn’t being pushed enough to where I could reach my potential and my peak. The program wasn’t where it needed to be for me and the whole team to be successful. After my junior year, I felt like it was the same thing. After that, it was only right for me to transfer.”
Mukuba won ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021, but his career stagnated in the two years after, culminating in absences from All-ACC teams and a dwindling NFL Draft stock. As a result, he decided to leave Death Valley this offseason and committed to the Longhorns.
Of course, player development goes both ways, and it’s interesting to hear Mukuba say he wasn’t “being pushed enough” when, just last season, he had this to say about Swinney challenging him:
“That’s something that I needed because I was down a lot of times. I feel like I needed someone to challenge me, so now I feel like I have no choice but to go do it [on the field]. He’s gonna do whatever it takes to get it out of me … that’s definitely what I needed, and you know everybody’s accepted the challenge, and I’m still going. I’m going to keep going.”
Now, Mukuba wouldn’t bad mouth the coach of the team he’s currently on, but it was clear Swinney lit a spark under him after an injury-riddled and disappointing 2022 campaign. While the versatile DB didn’t enjoy personal success last season, the Tigers’ defense was elite.
The unit tied for the national lead in takeaways (28), defensive touchdowns (five), and pick-sixes (four). It also ranked in the top 10 in first downs allowed per game (14.2, third), opponent passing yards per game (173.2, eighth), and total yards per game (287.8, eighth). Clearly, the defensive coaching staff knows what it’s doing.
However, Mukuba believed the coaches didn’t take into account his future, so he made a decision for himself. Although he certainly felt a certain way about how things unfolded at Clemson, he said there’s “no bad blood” after his transfer.
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Mukuba’s final two schools came down to Oregon and Texas, but he chose the Longhorns to move closer to home, play under “father figure” Steve Sarkisian, and compete in the SEC.
PFN NFL Draft Analyst Ian Cummings has been a fan of Mukuba’s for some time, and despite back-to-back middling seasons, he still believes the safety has pro potential:
“At times, Mukuba had first-round hype ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft cycle, but an up-and-down 2023 season cast the microscope on some of his bigger flaws. Nevertheless, he remains a compelling prospect, with the tools to have a role in a modern NFL defense.”
You can take Mukuba’s words at face value or not, but they highlight an ongoing negative perception of the dynastic Tigers under Swinney.
Clemson infamously added zero players from the transfer portal this offseason, to which Swinney responded, “Well, it wasn’t really necessarily like an intentional thing. There were a couple guys we looked at. They gotta love you, too. … And honestly, every player is technically a transfer. We just signed a whole class of guys transferring from high school.”
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Outside of being a blatant attempt at shifting the dialogue away from the primary issue, Swinney’s comments show his unwillingness to embrace change. It’s important to note that the Tigers did receive a positive return on their true freshmen investments last season through T.J. Parker, Peter Woods, and Khalil Barnes.
Plus, they own the No. 11 freshman class in 2024, according to 247Sports, which includes two five-star recruits and 10 four-star athletes. But Clemson needs to bounce back now, and banking on first-year college players to help you do so is a recipe for disaster.
Swinney’s squad suffered its first non-double-digit win campaign (9-4) since 2010 last year, and they’ve missed the College Football Playoff in three consecutive seasons — a far cry from their four national title appearances from 2015-19.
The coaching staff, including second-year OC Garrett Riley, is betting the house on true junior Cade Klubnik, who completed just 63.9% of his passes at 6.3 yards per clip last season, to lead them to the promised land. The former five-star recruit and No. 1 QB in the 2022 class struggled with decision-making and ball security despite owning one of the lowest average depth of targets in the ACC.
Growth is expected in young players, but that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed. Klubnik isn’t even the only young player with pressure to step up in 2024.
The Tigers will rely on four underclassmen in the WR room: redshirt sophomore Antonio Williams, sophomore Tyler Brown, and true freshmen Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore. While seniors RB Phil Mafah and TE Jake Briningstool raise the floor of the unit, there is far too much unknown.
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Swinney has built his program on a foundation of developing talent from within, but in an era where the transfer portal has become an essential tool for roster management, his reluctance to fully accept it will stunt Clemson’s ability to compete at the highest level.
With Florida State, Miami, NC State, and Louisville all not just adding support players but effectively building through the portal in the same conference, Clemson’s shortcomings will only be exacerbated.
The upcoming season is pivotal for Clemson to maintain its status as a national powerhouse and validate Swinney’s approach in an evolving college football landscape. If the Tigers falter again, Swinney will be forced to reconsider his stance, and if he doesn’t, the program will be forced to reconsider his future.
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