Following Clemson’s 28-14 win over rival South Carolina on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium, Clemson junior defensive end T.J. Parker was asked about his future and what’s next for him.

With the regular season having wrapped up Saturday, Parker is among the players on the Clemson football team who will be faced with decisions regarding their futures with the program.

Parker, who has routinely been projected to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, says he is still contemplating whether he will return to Clemson next year or move on after this season.

“Celebrating this win, and preparing for a bowl game,” Parker said when asked what the next couple weeks will be like for him. “Everybody wants to know what I’m gonna do. When that time comes, I’ll announce it, if I’m going to stay or I’m going to go.

“Still thinking about it. So, just trying to enjoy this win right now and celebrate with my teammates and get better.”

After posting 5.5 sacks as a freshman and 11 a season ago, Parker now has five sacks in 2025, to go along with 9.5 tackles for loss.

The 6-foot-3, 260-pound edge rusher entered the 2025 season credited with 105 tackles (32.0 for loss), 16.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and three pass breakups over 27 career games (17 starts) from 2023-24.

In Saturday’s win over the Gamecocks, Parker had a fumble recovery — his career-high third of the season and sixth of his career. In addition to the fumble recovery, Parker finished the game with a season-high 3.0 sacks among his four tackles – the second-most sacks in a game in his career, one shy of his 4.0 at Pitt in 2024.

Parker joined Vic Beasley (two) as the only players in the Dabo Swinney era to record multiple career games with 3.0 or more sacks. With his 3.0 sacks on Saturday, Parker (21.5) passed Chester McGlockton (20.5 from 1989-91) for the 10th-most career sacks in Clemson history.