CLEMSON, S.C. -- In a span of only two full seasons as a head coach, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney has experienced the high of playing in the ACC championship game, and the rock-bottom low that came with the program’s first losing season since 1998.

Both times, expectations remained the same -- win.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re coming off a division title, a conference title, or a tough season, there’s always pressure at Clemson,” Swinney said. “This is one of those schools where, every single year, people expect you to win.”

And win big.

It’s not going to be easy to do this year, as the Tigers have a new quarterback, a new offensive coordinator, an entirely new offensive scheme, and arguably one of the toughest schedules in the country. It’s been more than 30 years since Clemson has had back-to-back losing seasons, as the Tigers combined for a total of five wins in 1975 and 1976. Swinney isn’t trying to make that kind of history, but in order to avoid it and keep his job, he has to keep Clemson from being the same old Clemson -- a program notorious for its letdowns.

“Clemson has been one of those programs where every year there’s consistent talent, top players,” said first-year starting quarterback Tajh Boyd. “Stuff just doesn’t work out. Hopefully we can put this thing together. It’s unreal. There’s so much tradition, but there’s been a barrier for some reason.”

There were seven barriers last year, including the back-to-back losses against rival South Carolina and an unranked South Florida team in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. The offense was below average, the red zone offense one of the worst in the country, and there were too many missed field goals. Clemson Nation seemed on the verge of imploding following the loss to the Bulls, and Swinney fired former offensive coordinator Billy Napier in favor of Chad Morris and his up-tempo, no-huddle, spread offense.

“The best thing about last year is it’s over,” Swinney said. “I think a year from now, two years from now, five years from now, we’re going to look back and all be thankful for 2010. We’re going to get better from it. That’s the way I look at it. Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to. You either get better or get run over. I’m choosing to get better and I think we’ve done that.”

While the offensive changes can’t be an excuse for Clemson this year, they should allow for some margin of error. The Tigers have the first two weeks of the season to get the kinks out against Troy and Wofford before lining up against defending national champion Auburn, defending Atlantic Division champ Florida State, and defending ACC champ Virginia Tech -- all in a span of three weeks.

The players have bought into the new system, though, they’re having fun in it, and most importantly, they think it can make a difference in the win column.

Where does that confidence come from after only 14 spring practices?

“It comes from Tajh,” receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. “Everybody thought last year that Tajh should’ve had more opportunities to lead this team. Now that he’s out there, guys feel comfortable with him. Off the field, we get along with the quarterback very well. It’s more of a team thing than last year it feels like on the offensive side.”

Swinney has done a remarkable job invigorating the program inside and out since the season ended. Much of that can be attributed to the excitement of the new offense, and the top 10 recruiting class he lured in.

It’s not like Clemson hasn’t had nationally ranked recruiting classes before, though. So why haven’t the Tigers produced more? Swinney didn’t want to comment on behalf of his predecessors, but he did say he thought the program “got behind.”

“I do think that Clemson got behind,” he said. “Clemson got behind from a resource standpoint, things like that, but I think we have caught up. It’s obvious with how we’re recruiting and the resources that have been committed. It doesn’t happen overnight.

“It’s a hard thing to do, but what you want to do is be in a position to compete for your conference every year because in this conference, if you can have that good year and you win, well then you have a chance to get in that national scene,” he said. “There’s a lot that goes into that. It all starts with recruiting. It’s all about getting the right players and then having the coaches to bring it all together. My dream is to win a national championship at Clemson. That’s my dream. But it starts with winning this conference and developing our players better than everybody else. That’s what we’re planning on doing.”