Before the season started, Dabo Swinney felt his defensive secondary had a chance to be the best in his 12 years as Clemson’s head coach.
The third-ranked Tigers, who will play No. 23 Virginia in Saturday’s ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, brought back two seniors at safety in K’Von Wallace and Tanner Muse, as well as experienced backups in Nolan Turner and Denzel Johnson. They also brought back All-ACC corner A.J. Terrell, one of the best shutdown corners in the conference.
At linebacker Isaiah Simmons returned as the SAM/Nickel back, while James Skalski and Chad Smith were experienced players who had already played a lot in their Clemson careers.