Clemson’s first game took place in 1896, and over a century later, no one had worn the No. 0 jersey. Whether it was by choice or dumb luck, no Tiger had decided to wear the number until star linebacker Barrett Carter finally broke the ice.

Carter was a highly sought-after recruit in the 2021 class, and committed to Clemson in the summer of 2020. Following his announcement, Carter says he immediately talked to head coach Dabo Swinney about the open numbers on the roster.

“After I committed, I texted Coach Swinney, I was just like ‘are there any single digits’ cause I’ve always worn number one since I was in high school,” Carter said. “He told me zero was the only one and I was like ‘yeah let’s do it,’ so first No. 0 at Clemson, Agent Zero, all that.”

Two years into his career as a Tiger, he’s lived up to that hype and more. Last season, he finished with 77 tackles, 5.5 sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles as part of arguably the best linebacker tandem in the country.

Speaking of duos, there’s another No. 0 at Clemson now and he’s living up to that standard too. Wide receiver Antonio Williams is Carter’s neighbor in the locker room and was a freshman All-American in 2022.

For both Carter and Williams, a statement was made in their early career and the former says that’s something that he wanted to do with his play and the number on his jersey. Carter says he doesn’t take wearing No. 0 lightly “at all” and that it’s up to him to be the best to wear it.

When talking about the duo of he and Williams, the number has a lot to do with the chemistry.

“I call him big zero and I’m bigger zero but that’s my brother Antonio,” Carter said. “I didn’t even know he was wearing zero then one day I walked into the locker room and I saw that his locker was right next to mine and I was so confused…I’m glad that he’s wearing it. He’s such a special guy and such a special player.”

Clemson has two Agent Zeros to play with in 2023 and both are proven stars for the Tigers. It’s safe to say the No. 0 tradition is building in Tiger Town with the pair of Carter and Williams.