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2025 Spring Guide: Meet the 2025 Tigers

VETERAN TIGER TEAM PREPARES FOR 2025 AFTER RECLAIMING ACC CROWN IN 2024

Head Coach Dabo Swinney charged his 2024 squad with the task of “restoring the roar in ’24,” and Clemson delivered its 20th 10-win season in school history, becoming only the 13th FBS program ever to reach 10 wins in 20 different campaigns. Included among those 10 wins was the Tigers’ 800th victory in school history, making the Tigers only the 14th FBS program to hit the 800 mark.

Many of Clemson’s superlatives in 2024 were secured in one of the most dramatic fashions possible. With the first walk-off field goal of 50-plus yards by any school in conference championship game history, Clemson added to its existing conference records with its 22nd ACC title and its 28th overall conference title, and the Tigers extended their national record by winning a postseason game for the 14th straight season. The victory propelled the Tigers to a berth in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, Clemson’s seventh all-time CFP berth, the second-most in the tournament’s history.

This season, two-time national champion Swinney and the Tigers will attempt to re-scale college football’s mountaintop on the strength of a veteran and experienced group that returns eight starters on each side of the ball for the first time in Swinney’s 17 full seasons as Clemson’s head coach.

For the second straight year, Clemson’s offense will return eight of its 11 primary starters from the year before, as the lone trio of Tiger starters to depart from Clemson’s 2024 offense are NFL Combine invitees Jake Briningstool, Phil Mafah and Marcus Tate. After the expiration of their eligibility, those three leave behind a talented unit that came of age in 2024 and boasts four returning primary offensive line starters and a bevy of weapons for its senior quarterback.

Now in his third season at Clemson, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Garrett Riley will be tasked with further improving a Clemson offense that ranked in the top 20 nationally in total offense (11th, 451.9 yards per game) and scoring offense (18th, 34.7 points per game) a year ago.

QUARTERBACKS

Few offenses in college football can boast a combination of an offensive coordinator and a starting quarterback in their third year together in those respective roles, but its a luxury afforded to Clemson in 2025 as senior Cade Klubnik (Austin, Texas) enters his third season as the Tigers’ starting quarterback and his third under Riley’s guidance and playcalling.

Klubnik engineered a major step forward in 2024, as the two-time ACC Championship Game MVP authored one of the most prolific seasons in school history, accounting for 43 combined passing and rushing touchdowns. Through the air, he tied Tajh Boyd (36 in 2012) and Trevor Lawrence (36 in 2019) for the second-most passing touchdowns in a season in Clemson history, all while throwing only six interceptions on nearly 500 pass attempts. For many, he entered his name into early 2025 Heisman consideration during his 2024 season finale in which he completed 26-of-43 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns against Texas’ top-ranked pass defense in the College Football Playoff.

Behind Klubnik, Clemson remains excited by the prospect of now third-year quarterback Christopher Vizzina (Birmingham, Ala.). After redshirting in 2023, Vizzina saw action in seven games in his redshirt freshman campaign in 2024, and the spring of 2025 will offer another key developmental window for the former top-50 national recruit as he eyes a potential starting spot in 2026.

Clemson’s quarterback room added another dynamic player in its 2025 recruiting class, nabbing Chris Denson (Plant City, Fla.) out of the Tampa metro area. The dual threat southpaw secured his Clemson offer in the final game of his prep career when he totaled 235 rushing yards and 202 passing yards during the state playoffs. Among Clemson’s depth at the position is walk-on Trent Pearman (Clemson, S.C.), a two-time South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year who starred in Clemson’s 2024 Spring Game.

RUNNING BACKS

Offensive Run Game Coordinator/Running Backs Coach C.J. Spiller will enter his fifth season as Clemson’s running backs coach in 2025, and it will be his first without a familiar cast of characters since 2021 signees Will Shipley and Phil Mafah are both slated to carry the ball at the professional level in 2025. In Spiller’s first four years, the duo combined for more than 5,600 rushing yards, more than 7,500 all-purpose yards and a combined 61 touchdowns from 2021-24. The pair’s absence in 2025 creates a golden opportunity for Clemson’s current group of ballcarriers.

Based on 2024 production, the presumed incumbent would be redshirt sophomore Jay Haynes (Roanoke, Ala.), who posted his first career 100-yard rushing game last season on only five carries against The Citadel. Haynes is expected to miss spring practice though after suffering injuries to multiple knee ligaments while returning a kickoff in the 2024 ACC Championship Game.

Beyond Mafah and Haynes, Clemson’s third-highest rushing totals among its backs a year ago belonged to now-redshirt-junior Keith Adams Jr. (St. George, Utah). The bruising bowling ball’s style earned him the nickname “Hammerhead” from Clemson’s coaching staff, and he bludgeoned his way for his first rushing touchdown amid his 30 carries last season.

One of the most intriguing storylines of Clemson’s 2025 spring is expected to be the potential career reinvention of senior Adam Randall (Myrtle Beach, S.C.). Randall joined the Tigers in 2021 as a highly sought-after wide receiver, a position he played for his first three seasons with Clemson. However, with Clemson’s depth challenged in the last year’s College Football Playoff, Randall contributed at running back in the first round against Texas and ripped off a 41-yard run in the contest. Clemson will test a possible permanent position switch for the 230-pound athlete this spring.

The spring will also offer an evaluation window for several young candidates for the role. Jarvis Green (Irmo, S.C.) is entering his third year after having one of South Carolina’s most prolific high school careers, and he scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 25-yard reception in last year’s College Football Playoff. David Eziomume (Acworth, Ga.) redshirted a year ago, and Clemson coaches believe they’ve added another potent threat to the mix with the addition of midyear enrollee Gideon Davidson (Lynchburg, Va.), the reigning Player of the Year in the state of Virginia.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Clemson’s dominant decade in the 2010s was built in part by its “Wide Receiver U” reputation that spanned DeAndre Hopkins to Sammy Watkins to Mike Williams to Tee Higgins, among many others. After a three-year rash of injuries contributed to Clemson not having a receiver reach 605 yards in a season from 2021-23, good health and an infusion of young talent helped Clemson produce three separate receivers who reached that mark in 2024 under Offensive Pass Game Coordinator & Wide Receivers Tyler Grisham. Including tight ends, Clemson had four separate 500-yard receivers in 2024, the fourth such season in Clemson history.

Though the rising tide from all contributors lifted the group’s proverbial boat in 2024, Clemson’s unquestioned top target a year ago was now-redshirt-junior Antonio Williams (Irmo, S.C.), who returned from an injury-plagued second season in 2023 to post career highs in receptions (75), receiving yards (904) and record the first double-digit receiving touchdown total (11) since Tee Higgins in 2019. Williams’ versatility was on display in 2024, as his campaign marked only the ninth time since 1969 that a Clemson player passed for a touchdown, rushed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown in a single season.

Bryant Wesco Jr. (Midlothian, Texas) and T.J. Moore (Key West, Fla.) made instant impacts as true freshmen in 2024. While Moore’s late-season surge was a bit too belated to garner national recognition, Wesco collected Freshman All-America honors from 247Sports, PFF, ESPN, The Athletic and the FWAA. The duo ranked in the top six nationally in receiving yards by freshmen, and the pair became the first freshman duo in a power conference to each record at least 650 receiving yards and at least five touchdown catches in a single season since in records back to 2000.

The freshman duo’s development accelerated in part because of season-long injury issues for Tyler Brown (Greenville, S.C.). In 2023, Brown earned ESPN Freshman All-America honors as a true freshman, joining DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, Artavis Scott and Antonio Williams as the fifth freshman since 2010 to lead Clemson in receptions. He qualified for a mid-career redshirt for 2024 after being limited to only four regular season games and two postseason games.

Clemson views redshirt junior Cole Turner (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) as a fifth starter at the position, and college football cognoscenti that were clamoring for Clemson to make bigger splashes in the transfer portal will have a keen eye toward Tristan Smith (LaGrange, Ga. via Southeast Missouri State), who joined the Tigers in December following a standout season at the FCS level.

Third-year athlete Misun Kelley (Central, S.C.) will bounce between receiver and defensive back in the spring as Clemson continues to find the versatile contributor’s best fit. The receiving corps also includes two true freshmen among its scholarship ranks, including midyear enrollee Marquise Henderson (Belton, S.C.) and upcoming summer enrollee Juju Preston (Alexandria, Va.).

TIGHT ENDS

Clemson has produced three of its most productive seasons by tight ends in the Dabo Swinney era since the elevation of Kyle Richardson to its tight ends coach role prior to the 2022 season. Clemson’s tight ends have combined for at least 60 catches, at least 650 yards and at least seven touchdowns in each of the last three seasons. This year, the unit finds itself in search of a new lead dog in the wake of the graduation of Jake Briningstool, who exited Clemson as the school record-holder for career receptions by a tight end.

If playing time and production from 2024 provide any clues about potential 2025 impact, a primary candidate to watch is junior Olsen Patt-Henry (Naples, Fla.). A year ago, he grew into Clemson’s secondary option behind Briningstool and recorded 121 yards and three touchdowns in addition to becoming a physical presence in the running game in 294 offensive snaps.

Another veteran option is redshirt junior Josh Sapp (Greenville, S.C.)., who has recorded 13 receptions, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion over his first three seasons with the Tigers. Markus Dixon (Philadelphia, Pa.) is entering his third season after appearing in 10 games a year ago.

One of the candidates generating significant buzz inside the program is redshirt freshman Christian Bentancur (Lakemoor, Ill.). The former Illinois high school two-sport star immediately impressed his veteran teammates and coaches with his work ethic while redshirting in 2024, and last August, Swinney said Bentancur “might be as good of a kid as we’ve ever signed at that position.” Clemson added another tight end in a similar mold in its most recent class, signing Logan Brooking (Bluffton, S.C.), the son of 15-year NFL linebacker Keith Brooking.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Clemson received instant impact from the addition of veteran offensive line coach Matt Luke in his first full season at Clemson in 2024. As he readies for his second full season with the Tigers, he will benefit from the return of an exceedingly veteran unit that returns four of its five primary starters and has seven players who have started at least one game for Clemson.

The unit includes two of Clemson’s recent iron men. Blake Miller (Strongsville, Ohio) enters his senior season having played 2,893 career offensive snaps, ninth-most in Clemson annals and 862 snaps shy of Mitch Hyatt’s school record. The two-time All-ACC selection has started every game for Clemson at right tackle since his arrival, and he became the first offensive or defensive player to start every game played by Clemson during his freshman, sophomore and junior campaigns without the benefit of a redshirt year since offensive linemen Jim Bundren and Glenn Rountree started all 47 of Clemson’s games from 1994-97.

Miller plays alongside a remarkable comeback story in Walker Parks (Lexington, Ky.), who started all 14 games for Clemson in 2024 after missing the majority of the 2022 and 2023 seasons with career-threatening ankle injuries. A veteran of 53 games and 42 starts, Parks is a self-professed Clemson lifer who said of Clemson, “If there were no eligibility, I would stay here forever,” a maxim validated by his decision to utilize an extra year of eligibility for a sixth season in 2025.

Clemson’s other two returning primary starters include one of the team’s foremost leaders and one of its active parables of patience. Left tackle Tristan Leigh (Fairfax, Va.) has started 23 games over the last two seasons, and his progression from five-star recruit to off-radar redshirt to trusted contributor has given him stature and respect as one of the team’s most trusted leaders. Center Ryan Linthicum (Damascus, Md.), meanwhile, was one of Clemson’s revelations of 2024. Last spring, the then-career backup was entering his fourth year with limited experience, and he was given spring practice to audition for the role before Clemson sought veteran help at the position. Instead, Linthicum seized the role, starting all 14 games for Clemson and playing 982 snaps from scrimmage, the most of any Clemson player in 2024.

Though depth and injuries combined to limit them to four combined starts in 2024, redshirt junior Collin Sadler (Inman, S.C.) and junior Harris Sewell (Odessa, Texas) enter 2025 with a combined 40 games and 14 starts of experience along the Tiger offensive line. When healthy, Sadler provides versatility across the four tackle and guard positions, while Sewell offers tremendous value as a versatile interior piece across the center and guard spots.

Clemson had a breakout young star’s trajectory take a brief detour in late 2024. As a true freshman, Elyjah Thurmon (Rienzi, Miss.) impressed when called upon to play 74 outstanding snaps in reserve on the road at Virginia Tech last year, and he earned a start the following week before being lost for the remainder of the season on the game’s opening play from scrimmage. Whether as a starter or rotational piece, a fully healthy Thurmon stands primed to be a significant fixture in Clemson’s trenches for the next several seasons.

Clemson will hope for good health for Dietrick Pennington (Memphis, Tenn.) and Ian Reed (Austin, Texas), the redshirt senior and redshirt sophomore respectively who have both lost time amid battles with injuries and illnesses. The unit also includes eight players in their first or second years with the program: redshirt freshmen Watson Young (Clemson, S.C.), Mason Wade (Hamilton, Va.) and Ronan O’Connell (Franklin, Tenn.), midyear enrollees Gavin Blanchard (Tampa, Fla.), Easton Ware (Lynchburg, Va.), Rowan Byrne (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Brayden Jacobs (Milton, Ga.), and summer enrollee Tucker Kattus (Cincinnati, Ohio).

In each of the first 10 years of the College Football Playoff era, Clemson posted top-30 national rankings in both scoring defense and total defense, including a national-best eight top-10 finishes in total defense in that span. And though Clemson earned 10 wins, an ACC title and a berth in the College Football Playoff in 2024, the Tigers did so despite fielding a defense that statistically ended the year around national averages (49th in points allowed per game, 69th in yards allowed per game) rather than in its typical elite stratosphere.

Enter Tom Allen. Fresh off of his unit driving Penn State to top-10 national rankings in both total defense and scoring defense in 2024, Allen joined the Tigers as their defensive coordinator after helping guide the Nittany Lions to a national semifinal appearance. He inherits a talented defense with a few emerging stars coming of age, and he does so not a moment too soon as Clemson awaits its Aug. 30 season opener against LSU.

DEFENSIVE ENDS

Allen and Defensive Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Ends Coach Chris Rumph will have a number of goals at defensive end, but perhaps the most clear is maximizing the third year of standout edge rusher T.J. Parker (Phenix City, Ala.). Though Parker was limited to only second-team All-ACC status, his production was statistically similar to Penn State’s Abdul Carter, who earned unanimous All-America honors in his one season in Allen’s system.

Clemson sought to add another veteran on the edge in the offseason and landed its top target when the Tigers secured the signing of Purdue transfer Will Heldt (Carmel, Ind.) following two productive seasons in the Big Ten. Heldt impressed teammates and coaches immediately in the weight room and during mat drills. His high-level experience adds a boost to a position group that also includes redshirt senior Cade Denhoff (Plant City, Fla.) and redshirt junior Jahiem Lawson (Central, S.C.), a returning duo with a combined 53 career games and nine career starts.

Clemson’s depth at the position also includes redshirt seniors Armon Mason (Richmond Hills, Ga.) and Zaire Patterson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) among the veterans and redshirt freshman Darien Mayo (York, Pa.) and true freshman Ari Watford (Norfolk, Va.) among its youth options.

DEFENSIVE TACKLES

Assistant Head Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Tackles Coach Nick Eason will share a similar mission to Rumph in attempting to maximize the third year of another emerging national defensive line star out of the state of Alabama: junior Peter Woods (Alabaster, Ala.). A former five-star recruit and a 2023 Freshman All-American, Woods is preliminarily expected to move back inside more regularly after contributing at defensive end for significant stretches in 2024.

The unit received a significant boost in late January when the return for a sixth season was finalized for DeMonte Capehart (Hartsville, S.C.). While Capehart’s production has been limited slightly by playing behind Clemson’s run of prolific interior linemen now all plying their crafts professionally, the heavy-handed Capehart has been a subject of fascination of the scouting community and those who have more closely examined his play and his ability.

While Woods and Capehart are expected to command the bulk of opponents’ focus in the interior, Clemson feels strongly about its next wave of interior linemen. After a redshirt campaign in 2023, now-redshirt sophomore Stephiylan Green (Rome, Ga.) emerged as a trusted option for the Tigers in 2024, playing the third-most snaps of any Tiger defensive tackle. One of his fellow Class of 2023 signees, Vic Burley (Warner Robins, Ga.), will seek a breakout campaign after missing his entire redshirt campaign with knee injuries in 2023 and playing just shy of 100 snaps in 2024.

The spring will offer a window into the development of second-year redshirt freshmen Champ Thompson (Gainesville, Ga.) and Hevin Brown-Shuler (Atlanta, Ga.), both of whom turned some heads on scout team while redshirting in 2024. That duo cedes its status as the youngest on the unit with the arrivals of midyear enrollee Amare Adams (Jefferson, S.C.) and summer enrollee Makhi Williams-Lee (Atlanta, Ga.). Among the group’s veteran depth, redshirt junior Caden Story (Lanett, Ala.) enters his fourth season having player 119 defensive snaps over 19 career games.

LINEBACKERS

Energy and enthusiasm levels are anticipated to reach full capacity in Clemson’s linebacker room this year as the group now falls jointly under the purview of Allen and Clemson-legend-turned-Linebackers Coach Ben Boulware. The former All-American served as a volunteer coach in 2024 and now joins the staff in a full-time capacity to help further develop Clemson’s assortment of talent at the position.

While attention on Clemson’s linebackers over the last several seasons justifiably landed on multi-time All-Americans Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Barrett Carter, one of the ACC’s best-kept secrets at the position over the last couple of years has been now-senior Wade Woodaz (Tampa, Fla.). Despite missing two games, Woodaz actually led Clemson with 89 tackles in 2024 and posted 10.0 tackles for loss, three sacks, six pass breakups, three forced fumbles and an interception. He was one of only six power conference players to record double-digit tackles for loss, three or more forced fumbles and an interception in 2024, joining Texas’ Anthony Hill Jr. and Colin Simmons, Indiana’s Jailin Walker, UCLA’s Kain Medrano and Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez.

Woodaz may once again be fighting through an immense local shadow for deserved recognition, as 2025 will offer an expanded role for Sammy Brown (Commerce, Ga.), the ACC’s reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year. Despite not being a full-season starter, Brown was ultra-productive in his debut campaign, as his 87 tackles were the most by a Clemson freshman under Dabo Swinney and the most by a Clemson freshman in any era since Anthony Simmons’ freshman-school-record 150 tackles in 1995. Brown’s 2024 performance garnered him near universal Freshman All-America honors.

Beyond the two proven commodities is a talented group competing for larger roles. Redshirt junior Kobe McCloud (Tampa, Fla.) was on-pace to be one of Clemson’s key reserve linebackers and special teamers a year ago before suffering a season-ending knee injury early in the campaign. That created some extra runway for the development of Dee Crayton (Alpharetta, Ga.), who admirably stepped up in a clutch 58-snap performance at Pitt last year with several linebackers missing by virtue of injury or disqualification. Jamal Anderson (Buford, Ga.) returns for his third year as well, as the son of the former Atlanta Falcon of the same name has been a special teams staple for the Tigers and partially blocked a punt against Stanford last September.

The unit added more power-conference pedigree in January when Clemson signed Alabama transfer Jeremiah Alexander (Alabaster, Ala.). Alexander, whose work ethic led him to being called “a lunatic” by the similarly wired Boulware, now joins a Clemson squad that heavily recruited him out of high school, and he will once again play alongside his former high school teammate Peter Woods, with whom he won multiple state titles at Thompson High School.

The scholarship linebacker group also includes three freshmen: redshirt freshmen Drew Woodaz (Tampa, Fla.) and C.J. Kubah-Taylor (Frederick, Md.) and true freshman Logan Anderson (Fyffe, Ala.).

CORNERBACKS

Clemson’s cornerbacks remain under the purview of the longest-tenured member of Clemson’s assistant coaches, Assistant Head Coach/Co-Special Teams Coordinator/Cornerbacks Coach Mike Reed, who is now entering his 13th season at Clemson.

Reed had the privilege of coaching multi-time All-ACC cornerback and current NFL All-Pro A.J. Terrell for all three seasons of his Clemson career from 2017-19, and he now enters his third season guiding the next entry in the Terrell lineage at Clemson: junior Avieon Terrell (Atlanta, Ga.). Terrell is moving this season from jersey No. 20 to his family’s familiar No. 8. Last year, the second-team All-ACC selection started all 14 games and notched 64 tackles (4.5 for loss), 13 pass breakups, two interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a sack, becoming the first Clemson player under Dabo Swinney to finish a season with at least three forced fumbles, multiple interceptions and multiple fumble recoveries.

While Terrell locked down one starting corner spot in 2024, the spot opposite Clemson featured a trio of different contributors. After battling various injuries throughout his career, Jeadyn Lukus (Mauldin, S.C.) played all 14 games of his junior campaign last year including 10 starts. Junior Shelton Lewis (Stockbridge, Ga.) appeared in 10 games with four starts while bouncing between the cornerback and nickel positions, and Ashton Hampton (Tallahassee, Fla.) made a splash debut as a true freshman in 2024, recording a pick-six against NC State and highlight-reel one-handed snare at Virginia Tech.

Redshirt junior Myles Oliver (Villa Rica, Ga.) will hope for an extended run of good health this spring to showcase his abilities after nearly all of his first three seasons on campus have been wiped out by injuries. Branden Strozier (Lovejoy, Ga.) enters his third season following a 2024 campaign in which he played 73 defensive snaps over eight games. Two young corners also return following redshirt seasons a year ago: Tavoy Feagin (Tampa, Fla.) and Corian Gipson (Fort Worth, Texas).

SAFETIES

Clemson’s safeties group lost a 60-game veteran with the departure of six-year defensive back R.J. Mickens for the NFL in 2025, but Defensive Pass Game Coordinator/Co-Special Teams Coordinator/Safeties Coach Mickey Conn’s group includes a compelling blend of personalities and experience levels looking to lead the back end of Clemson’s secondary.

Though his production has not yet garnered All-ACC recognition from the league’s official voters in his first two seasons, now-junior Khalil Barnes (Athens, Ga.) followed up his 2023 Freshman All-America season with another productive performance in 2024. He enters 2025 credited with 101 tackles (5.5 for loss), 11 pass breakups, seven interceptions, three forced fumbles, a sack and a fumble recovery (which he returned 42 yards for a touchdown) in 27 games with 21 starts, as he was the only player in the nation to record at least seven interceptions and at least three forced fumbles across the 2023-24 campaigns. His seven picks in his first two years were the most by a Clemson player across his freshman and sophomore seasons since Rashard Hall’s eight interceptions from 2009-10.

Genetically speaking, one of the leaders of the group should come as no surprise as the 2025 campaign will mark the sixth and presumably final season for Tyler Venables (Clemson, S.C.). Venables has played 50 career games and bounced between defensive, special teams and coaching roles throughout his playing career while battling injuries and a pair of hamstrings that he self-deprecatingly says “are made out of cold Twizzlers.”

Between injuries and Clemson’s recent penchant for three-safety looks, Kylon Griffin (Montgomery, Ala.) carved out a role as a frequent contributor despite having started only four of his 26 career appearances. He has three career interceptions, including one that helped seal a memorable upset win against Notre Dame in 2023.

The group includes a bevy of second- and third-year players in search of expanded roles. Redshirt sophomores Rob Billings (Marietta, Ga.) and Kylen Webb (Tampa, Fla.) have appeared in a combined 30 games entering their third years, while Clemson’s batch of second-year safeties includes sophomore Ricardo Jones (Warner Robins, Ga.) and redshirt freshmen Noah Dixon (LaGrange, Ga.) and Joe Wilkinson (Rome, Ga.).

One of the spring’s compelling storylines will be the continued position transition of defensive back Ronan Hanafin (Burlington, Mass.). The former wide receiver’s athleticism matched with his tenacity as a core special teams player led him to switch to defense last August, and this spring will mark his first opportunity to truly accelerate his development in the back seven without the burden of having to serve in a scout-team capacity for game planning. The safeties group was also joined this January by midyear enrollee Jakarrion Kenan (Bennettsville, S.C.).

Clemson’s special teams unit battled some in-season struggles in 2024, but the unit delivered in one of the most memorable moments of the entire college football season when the group led by Director of Special Teams Will Gilchrist delivered Clemson its 22nd ACC title and sent Clemson into A) delirium, and B) its seventh College Football Playoff.

Though a collective effort, the game-winning 56-yard field goal to defeat SMU came off of the right foot of Nolan Hauser (Cornelius, N.C.), highlighting an impactful debut campaign for the true freshman. He converted 18-of-24 field goal attempts and 59-of-60 PATs in starting all 14 games, becoming the first player in Clemson history to record 100 points in a true freshman season. He was selected as a Freshman All-American by the FWAA and also collected the organization’s National Freshman Special Teams Player of the Year award.

The rest of the placekicking battery returns for Hauser in 2025. Holden Caspersen (Roswell, Ga.) will be in his fourth season as a starting long snapper in some capacity and his third consecutive specifically as the team’s snapper on placekicks. And, as is customary now for nearly a full decade, the snaps will land in the hands of a Swinney, as Clay Swinney (Clemson, S.C.) returns for his third year as Clemson’s primary holder. Clay and his two brothers, Will and Drew, have held for every Clemson placekick since the start of the 2017 season.

Clemson also returns placekicker Robert Gunn III (Seminole, Fla.). Gunn has been one of the nation’s top kickoff specialists in two years starting in that role. Including five kickoffs while redshirting in 2022, he recorded touchbacks on 136-of-165 kickoffs (82.4 percent) through his first three seasons at Clemson from 2022-24.

For only the third time since 2017, Clemson will be in search of a new punter. Will Spiers was Clemson’s primary punter from 2017-21 before the expiration of his eligibility gave way to Aidan Swanson’s three years as Clemson’s punter from 2022-24. This spring, Clemson will seek consistency from redshirt junior Jack Smith (Saraland, Ala.), who punted five times in his first three years behind Swanson. He and walk-on punters Brodey Conn and Will McCune will have the benefit of experience in front of them, as Clemson returns long snapper Philip Florenzo (Towson, Md.), a multi-year starter who has been Clemson’s primary punt snapper for two seasons and has been one of the nation’s best in coverage at his position with 12 career tackles.

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