After being beset by injuries for most of his first two-plus seasons at Clemson, Troy Stellato is making an impact for the Tigers in his third year.
With better health, the talented redshirt sophomore receiver is showing what he can do when he’s on the field, and showing why he was a highly regarded four-star prospect when he signed with Clemson out of Florida’s Cardinal Gibbons High School back in December 2020.
Stellato has flashed his potential this season and continued to do so in Saturday’s win at Syracuse, catching four passes for 37 yards and scoring his first career touchdown on a 14-yard pass from Cade Klubnik to cap the Tigers’ opening drive.
“Nothing he does surprises me. I’m really proud of him, and I’m just happy for him,” Swinney said of Stellato following the Syracuse game. “The kid has been on ice for two years, and that’s really hard when you’re a great football player and highly recruited guy and for two years, you got all these issues. So it’s really cool, and sometimes a guy just needs a little bit of success, and man, it’s just like throwing fuel on the fire. It’s been really good to see.”
Clemson wide receiver Troy Stellato (10) scores against Syracuse during the first quarter Saturday, September 30, 2023 a JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider
Plagued by injury after injury, Stellato was limited to less than two dozen total snaps on the field entering this season. He played only 23 snaps in two games as a true freshman in 2021, then missed all of last season with an ACL injury suffered in fall camp.
Stellato also missed this year’s season opener at Duke after suffering a hamstring injury prior to fall camp starting and being sidelined for most of camp as a result. But since coming back, he has hauled in 14 receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown across four games.
To put those numbers in perspective, Stellato had just two career catches for 15 yards entering this season. Now, the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder is beginning to blossom and prove he can be a weapon for the Tigers if he continues to stay healthy.
His role in Clemson’s receiving corps became even more important when redshirt freshman Cole Turner went down with a season-ending injury against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 16.
“You see it happening right before your eyes – he’s becoming what we know he is,” Swinney said of Stellato. “Ask me that in fall camp, I’d have said we’re not counting on him, he hadn’t been there (available). If Troy’s out there, it’s a bonus. But we also had Cole Turner, and now Cole’s gone and Troy has gotten healthy, and he’s just gotten better and better each week. I mean, he’s a tough kid. He’s everything we thought he was. He’s just, for the first time in his career, been available to actually play football.”
Stellato dropped a pass against Syracuse, though Swinney chalked that up to Stellato simply trying to run before making sure he secured the ball, and Swinney added that he loves the improvement Stellato has shown to this point in the season.
“He’s got great hands… You don’t see him drop many balls, even in practice, and he just tried to take off a little quick on the one (against Syracuse),” Swinney said. “But proud of him. He’s getting better and better. You’ve got to look at him as a freshman because he hasn’t played. So, he’s playing his way into a good role for us.”
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