Clemson’s defensive collapse wasn’t just a sudden shock—it was brewing long before the first whistle of the season. The Tigers’ coaching staff, led by Dabo Swinney and defensive ends coach Chris Rumph, made a critical mistake early on: they passed on bringing in a game-changing, all-conference caliber defensive end from the transfer portal. Despite preseason confidence, their decision to stick with what they had would haunt them all season.
Fast forward to now, and Clemson’s defense is facing the worst run defense since 1975. They couldn’t set the edge, especially on the left side of the line, struggling against balanced offenses. The numbers tell a brutal story: 4.7 yards per rush allowed, the worst since 1975, and a painful 160.6 yards per game, the highest since 2011.
As defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin reflects, it’s clear there were plenty of red flags. “We’ll do our end-of-year review, dive into what went wrong, and analyze how teams exploited us,” he said. But that’s not enough to fix what’s broken. Clemson’s defense was plagued by poor tackling, players out of position, and a shocking number of busted plays.
While there’s hope on the horizon with the addition of all-conference defensive end Will Heldt from Purdue, it’s a fix that’s come a year too late. With more issues still lingering at defensive end and across the field, Clemson has a long road ahead. The question now: Can they turn it around before it’s too late?
The clock is ticking.
