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Clemson University’s football program has everything in place for a banner offensive season in 2025 – most notably the return of star quarterback Cade Klubnik. But how will the Tigers fare on the other side of the ball after a disappointing defensive showing in 2024?
Head coach Dabo Swinney confirmed last Monday (January 6, 2025) that Wes Goodwin would not return to Tigertown after his unit surrendered 374.1 yards per game last year – dropping from No. 8 to No. 69 in the national rankings. Clemson’s run defense got gashed to the tune of 160.7 yards per game last season – its worst showing in nearly half a century.
As our Erin Parrott recently noted, the final straw was last month’s College Football Playoff (CFP) quarterfinals loss to Texas, in which Clemson was shredded for 292 rushing yards.
According to Swinney, the search for Goodwin’s replacement was set to begin “immediately” – with a new coordinator likely to be named by the end of January.

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“Our staff has been hard at work on our roster, and we look forward to solidifying our defensive coordinator position to help lead this extremely talented group as we pursue our goals for 2025,” Swinney said.
Clemson was originally believed to be targeting Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks – who had been eyed for the same position at Miami. Banks is staying in Knoxville, however. Subsequent reports indicated the Tigers were looking at Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden, but he is said to be eyeing a job in the NFL.
Plan C? According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Swinney is working to hire Penn State coordinator Tom Allen. Penn State reached the semi-finals of the expanded College Football Playoff (CFP) before falling to Notre Dame.
“Family geography loomed large in Allen’s decision, as (moving to Clemson) would position the Allen family closer to their two daughters, who live in the Carolinas,” Thamel reported. “Allen’s son, Thomas Allen, would likely join the Clemson staff as well in some type of analyst role. He works at Penn State as a defensive analyst and analytics coordinator.”
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RELATED | CADE KLUBNIK COMING BACK TO CLEMSON
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Allen, 54, of New Castle, Indiana spent seven seasons as head coach at Indiana from 2017-2023, posting a disappointing 33-49 record over that span. He did guide the Hoosiers to a pair of bowl games and a national ranking during the Covid-shortened 2020 season. In his lone season at Penn State, the Nittany Lions ranked No. 7 nationally in total defense (294.8 yards per game), No. 8 in scoring defense (16.5 points per game) and No. 9 in rushing defense (101.9 yards per game).
Put those numbers up alongside a Klubnik-led offense and Clemson could be well-positioned for another CFP bid in 2025.
Clemson has plenty of talent returning on defense this coming fall. Junior Peter Woods – a 6-foot-3, 315-pound defensive tackle from Alabaster, Alabama notched 8.5 tackles for loss and three sacks last season. He will be joined in the trenches next fall by five-star recruit Amare Adams, a 6-foot-6, 315-pound interior lineman from Florence, S.C. who is the top rated high school player in the Palmetto State.
Junior T.J. Parker – an explosive, 6-foot-3, 265-pound edge rusher from Phenix City, Alabama – also returns after leading the Tigers will 11 sacks last year. Parker set a school record with six (6) forced fumbles in 2024, and has drawn comparisons to former first-round draft pick Clelin Ferrell. Through two seasons, Parker has 32 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks.
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The Tigers also bolstered their edge rush heading into 2025 via the addition of 6-foot-6, 250-pound Will Heldt of Carmel, Indiana. Heldt transferred to Tigertown from Purdue, where he recorded five sacks last year for the Boilermakers.
Sophomore Sammy Brown – a 6-foot-2, 235-pound wrecking ball from Commerce, Georgia who won multiple freshman All-American honors – gives the Tigers another solid defensive weapon at the linebacker position, as does junior Avieon Terrell, a 5-11, 180-pound shutdown corner from Atlanta.
Clemson’s historic run of six straight CFP appearances (including a pair of national titles) was driven in large part by former defensive coordinator following Brent Venables – who left Clemson to become the head coach at Oklahoma in 2021.
During his decade at Clemson, Venables’ defenses ranked first nationally in sacks (445) and opponents’ third down conversion (30.2%), second in opponents’ pass efficiency rating (111.1) and takeaways (244), third in scoring defense (17.8 points per game) and opponents’ completion percentage (53.3%), fourth in total defense (311.4 yards per game) and pass defense (190.5 yards per game), fifth in interceptions (148) and sixth in rushing defense (120.9 yards per game).
The Tigers open their 2025 season on August 30 at home against LSU – a rematch of the national championship game which concluded the 2019 season.
BANNER: Travis Bell Columbia SC Photographers
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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