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 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).
