CLEMSON – A strong freshman season was just the first step for TJ Parker, and the injection of Chris Rumph is helping him evolve for Year 2.

Parker led Clemson in sacks as a freshman with 5.5, earning honors across multiple publications for his impressive debut. With Rumph joining the Tigers staff, there’s a lot of nuance that he’s downloading for 2024.

“It’s amazing. He’s teaching me a lot of things that I really didn’t look at from a understanding formations aspect and things like that,” Parker said.

Playing faster is something Parker wants to take seriously, but the way to learn it comes as an opposite. He said that Rumph has slowed things down at times in spring practice to find the details.

Rumph’s pedigree speaks for itself, especially having three NFL teams under his belt as a coach over the last few seasons. With that comes a level of intensity, and it’s made a shockwave across the entire defense.

“Intensity. I love it. He brings high intensity every day, demands high intensity so for us, we stepped up bringing that high intensity to practice. It brought an effect to the whole D-line and the whole defense in general,” Parker said. “He expects the very most effort out of everybody. He knows we’re not going to be perfect every rep, every play but he expects us to soak in what he teaches us.”

Expectations are high around Parker in his second year, and Rumph is making sure to prepare him for the next step as both a player and leader with the many defensive faces departing.

Having that extra knowledge and teaching means a lot to Parker, and it’s coming at a perfect time as he enters a larger role at Clemson.