Why Tennessee football fans should root for Clemson to keep struggling

For the first time since 2014, the Clemson Tigers have two losses in the regular season thanks to an overtime loss to the N.C. State Wolfpack. Now there is a growing sentiment that the program is on a downward slide. That’s something Tennessee football fans should embrace.

The fall of the Vols can’t be directly attributed to Clemson’s success. After all, they fired Phillip Fulmer in 2008, the same year Clemson replaced Tommy Bowden with Dabo Swinney. However, decisions made after that allowed Clemson to take a lot of the Vols’ luster away from them.

It started with Swinney accepting Tajh Boyd as a quarterback after Lane Kiffin pushed him away. Then Swinney embraced the spread offense by bringing in Chad Morris in 2011, two years before the Vols did and well before anybody in the ACC was running it.

Those two things allowed Clemson to emerge while Tennessee football struggled in an ever-growing SEC. Then the Tigers hit lightning in a bottle with the quarterback that followed Boyd in Deshaun Watson (with Cole Stoudt in between them for a bit).

In the process, Swinney took Clemson to a national level and began to lure top-notch talent that should’ve been on Rocky Top. Superstar receivers Tee Higgins and Amari Rodgers, both of whom are from East Tennessee and the latter of whom is the son of Tee Martin, but chose Clemson over the Vols.

Then there’s Trevor Lawrence, the successor to Watson. Lawrence grew up a Vols fan but ended up going to Clemson. Losing out on such elite talent was unheard of back in the day, even as recently as when the Vols lost to Clemson in the Peach Bowl in 2003.

As Josh Heupel tries to rebuild Rocky Top, things will get much easier if Clemson takes a step back as a program. Not only will Tennessee football finally have a better shot with some elite talent they should be able to get, but the Vols will be able to compete better in the region.

Remember, in 1998, the entire Vols’ defensive line came from South Carolina. They later got Albert Haynesworth to come from the same state. However, when Steve Spurrier went to the South Carolina Gamecocks, UT luring top talent from there stopped.

By the time Spurrier resigned at South Carolina, Swinney had built up Clemson to keep the talent in the state as well. The Vols never stood a chance. If Swinney’s program begins to struggle, UT could benefit a lot more in recruiting.

Of course, Dave Doeren and Mack Brown with N.C. State and the North Carolina Tar Heels respectively could also create problems. The Vols success was in the Carolinas in general, not one state in particular. However, UNC is 2-2 right now. N.C. State did lose to Mississippi State earlier in the year. South Carolina is still rebuilding.

There’s a glimmer of hope for Tennessee football to begin getting competitive again with that area. It was a huge part of recruiting for the Vols back in the day. If they could get the advantage there again, Heupel could build them back more quickly than initially expected. To hope for that, Vol fans should hope Clemson continues to struggle.