Clemson Tigers' Top Three Transfers Will Serve as Important X-Factors In 2025

Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney did the unthinkable to many this past offseason, picking up three transfers to help bolster the squad. 

Now, those three standouts will look to help elevate the Tigers into a championship team, looking to build off of last season’s team that saw a College Football Playoff appearance. 

The first acquisition that Swinney secured was wide receiver Tristan Smith from Southeast Missouri State. With a 6-foot-5, 205-pound frame, Smith serves as a difficult matchup for all cornerbacks. 

In the Tigers’ spring game, Smith caught five passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, leading all receivers in yards in April.

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While breaking into a first team with receivers like TJ Moore, Bryant Wesco Jr., and Antonio Williams will be difficult, Swinney has been “pleased” with Smith’s development. 

“He’s better now than he was in the spring, and he was good in the spring,” Swinney said on Wednesday. “Just a little more polished, a little more understanding, a little more detailed, a little bit more fundamentally savvy when it comes to release technique, route running, influencing his routes, break points, all that stuff. He’s just a little more confident in everything that he’s doing.”

Defensive end Will Heldt was the second pickup for Swinney, adding the Purdue transfer at the beginning of December. To partner alongside T.J. Parker on the edge, the 6-foot-6, 260-pound junior has proved to have the power in his time with the Boilermakers. 

Heldt was double-teamed frequently last season, and with a defensive line that will show attention to other players, he’s excited to simply “have fun” with the group throughout the season. 

“It just brings a whole another level of confidence just stepping up to the line, just knowing we have got guys like that that are going to be nightmare fuel for offensive coordinators and offensive lines all around the country,” Heldt said.   

The final player that the Tigers acquired was linebacker Jeremiah Alexander, who played three previous seasons at Alabama and didn’t see much time on the field, and entered the portal.

However, Swinney has been enamored by Alexander’s work ethic, saying that if everybody had the same work ethic as the redshirt junior, then “this would be the easiest job in America.”

“He’s unbelievable,” Swinney said. “You just pull for a kid like that. . .he’s just a phenomenal young man. Great parents, he’s a graduate already, and he’s got two years of eligibility. I’m so glad he’s here. We needed another veteran guy, we got a lot of young guys [and] we needed another veteran guy.”

With the work being done for Alexander, Swinney sees a spot for him at the linebacker position or at Tom Allen’s TIGER position, an edge rusher who’s versatile enough to rush the quarterback or drop back in coverage. 

The Tigers return most of their production on both sides of the ball, with fans seeing a similar type of team that includes a new defensive coordinator in Tom Allen. Add these three transfers, and don’t be surprised if a new acquisition is the one who makes a game-winning play in the fall.