Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is certainly happy to have Christian Bentancur on his team.

During his weekly Sunday teleconference, Swinney shared that Bentancur, the blossoming redshirt freshman tight end, was at the Tigers’ facility on Sunday rocking to music and running 100-yard sprints – one day after going off for 53 yards and two touchdowns on two catches in Clemson’s 38-10 win at North Carolina.

That’s just who Bentancur is, Swinney says.

“He likes all of it. He likes every part of playing the position. He loves football. He’s just a worker,” Swinney said.

“I come in here today at 1:30, and he’s out there jamming to music, running 100-yard sprints and walk-backs by himself. That’s just who Christian is. So, bright future, redshirt freshman, and definitely glad he’s a Tiger.”

Bentancur enjoyed the best game of his young Clemson career on Saturday against the Tar Heels.

The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder recorded his first career touchdown reception on a 45-yard scoring grab in the first quarter, then added an 8-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.

Bentancur became the first Clemson tight end to record multiple touchdown catches in a game since Jake Briningstool’s two touchdowns against SMU in the 2024 ACC Championship Game.

“Christian’s a complete player,” Swinney said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he can run. He’s learned what to do. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.

“Nice job by Cade [Klubnik] finding him in the seam, and a good job by Bentancur just staying on his feet. The guy kind of dove down at his feet, but kept his balance and was able to score on the one [touchdown]. And then just a little screen play there down in the red zone that he punched in, too.”

Coming out of high school, Bentancur was a four-star recruit and a consensus top-125 player nationally. Multiple services ranked him as one of the five best tight ends in his class. His 3,867 receiving yards rank him second in Illinois high school history. He also ranks third in receiving touchdowns (51) and fifth in total receptions (231).

Bentancur entered this season after playing six games and 17 offensive snaps during his redshirt season in 2024. Through five games this season, he has six catches for 91 yards and the two touchdowns he scored at UNC.

Not only is Bentancur extremely long, really athletic and a hard worker, but on top of all that and his ability to be a weapon in the passing game, he’s a top-notch blocker as well according to Swinney.

“He and [junior Clemson tight end] Olsen [Patt-Henry] are elite blockers,” Swinney said. “They’re not good blockers – those two guys are elite blockers. If you really know what you’re looking at and you really watch the tape and you watch how those two guys block, they are really, really physical and I think elite blockers.”