Paul Myerberg

USA TODAY Sports

CLEMSON, S.C. — Thirteen highway signs scattered throughout this state proclaim what you already knew: “Clemson,” they read, “2016 College Football National Champions.”

Then there are the banners, flags, shirts and other paraphernalia found in the windows and on the racks at every store in town. It almost makes you want to do the math. How many pieces of gear referencing the Tigers’ national championship can one person own? Never enough, a local answers when asked. The printing industry is booming in Clemson, at least.

Then you go the new football facility, just opened in February but already Internet clickbait. Did you know there’s a slide? A court for bocce ball? Miniature golf? Bowling lanes? But before getting to dessert, the first course: Clemson’s newest addition, a gleaming trophy handed to the College Football Playoff champion. It’s placed just inside the glass doors for maximum effect.

It can be overwhelming to those just passing through. Imagine if you were a first-year starter, let alone a first-year freshman, inundated with and among the many pieces of hardware calling back to how just months ago, Clemson pulled off its first national title in 35 years? Hey, no pressure.

So Dabo Swinney uses a metaphor. Swinney is college football’s great metaphorist, often using some sort of immense impediment — a mountain and its mountaintop have long been a favorite — to guide the Tigers through and to the pinnacle of college football. This year’s metaphor: the windshield and the rearview.

Meetings begin in Clemson’s shiny gathering room, one replicated to the exact same measurements as the Tigers’ former conference area at their previous facility. A picture flashes onto the screen. Most of the frame is the windshield, and within it the tasks that lie ahead in the coming days and weeks. A small portion is the rearview, which holds the recent past in small type: 2016 national champions; 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference champions; 28-2 during the past two seasons.

The message is clear. What happened yesterday isn’t important. Tomorrow is. After all, Swinney asks his team, why else would the windshield be so much bigger than your rearview?

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“It’s always about what’s next,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s important to learn and grow from what’s behind you, but it’s behind you. God put our eyes in the front of our head. It’s all about where we’re going, not where we’ve been.”

Where the Tigers have been is to the mountaintop, to borrow a metaphor, and they’ve enjoyed the view. But only to a point.

Despite any number of evidence to the contrary — the trophy, the flags, the shirts, the banners, the highway signs — Clemson isn’t treating this coming season as a title defense. Instead, the Tigers are “starting over,” said co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott.

“I think the biggest thing that Coach Swinney has told the guys is that we’re not going to take the mentality that we’re defending a championship,” he said. “That was an unbelievable season by an unbelievable team, and that team was last year.”

This may help to dampen the pressure inherent to a title defense. It could also speak to another crucial element. Swinney is accurate in one respect: This year’s Clemson might bear little resemblance to the 2016 version.

Deshaun Watson, Mike Williams, Artavis Scott and Wayne Gallman are gone on offense, each leaving on the table one final season of eligibility. Two overlooked senior starters, center Jay Guillermo and tight end Jordan Leggett, must also be replaced. The vocal heart of the defense, Ben Boulware, leaves a gap at linebacker, as Carlos Watkins does at defensive tackle and Cordrea Tankersley at cornerback.

This wasn’t shocking: Clemson expected a heavy degree of offseason turnover after back-to-back Playoff berths. But it’s still surprising to look onto the Tigers’ practice field and not see Watson but three new contenders for the starting job. As a group, the trio brings nine career college attempts into the offseason — all belonging to junior Kelly Bryant, last year’s primary backup and the early leader in the clubhouse.

“I think the first thing everybody does every year when you evaluate a roster or team is, who left? Who’s gone? That’s kind of where it starts,” Swinney said. “And when you lose some of the players we lost, it’s kind of human nature to say, well, you’ve got guys who really haven’t played much.”

Besides, he countered, it’s not as if the cupboard is bare. And Swinney’s right. It’s safe to say the right amount of concern has been paid to Watson’s departure — he was a once-in-a-decade talent, and likely the finest player in school history. But no other position, even wide receiver, has any issues related to depth or experience, and no position group carries into the offseason any worries over talent.

“We’ve got guys that are proven, they just weren’t starters,” said junior receiver Hunter Renfrow, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass in the win against Alabama. “These guys know how to win. They know what it takes.”

So it’s clear that the title lingers, if only in one respect: the returning roster knows what it takes to be a national champion. If that’s all that lingers, it may be enough to maintain Clemson’s perch in the conversation.

But the Tigers’ preparations for September provide an interesting case study in college football. Maybe Nick Saban and Alabama can quickly and effectively turn the page on one championship and aim themselves at another; the Crimson Tide have won enough to perfect that mentality, at least. But can Clemson do the same?

It depends on the point of view. Clemson’s looking in the windshield. The rearview is the rearview. It’s a tidy metaphor. But it fits.

“It’s the same competitiveness,” said junior safety Van Smith. And it does feel the same, if drastically different. After all, a reporter asks, pointing to the massive championship banner hanging in the Tigers’ indoor facility, what about that? “Except for that,” Smith added. “The natty.”

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