CLEMSON – Clemson’s defensive back room got a facelift this offseason, with almost half of the Tigers’ transfer portal additions playing either safety or corner. 

Head coach Dabo Swinney, defensive coordinator Tom Allen, and a myriad of other position coaches and analysts selected Old Dominion’s Jerome Carter and Southern Miss.’ Corey Myrick as the top two safety targets. Both committed to Clemson in early January.

“We got our top two safeties,” Swinney said in January. “We went after these two guys, and we got both of them. Jerome Carter from ODU and Corey Myrick from Southern Miss. Both are juniors. These guys are long and they can run.” 

Swinney and company also brought in cornerbacks Donovan Starr from Auburn and Elliott Washington from Penn State. Both players had successful careers last season at their respective schools before facing coaching changes and deciding to enter the portal. 

“The two corners we brought in and the portal both are really fast, and they’re physical and they’re hungry guys,” Allen said Monday, several days into spring practice.

Despite bringing in four new members of the secondary, losing two former starting safeties to the portal, and all-american corner Aveion Terrell headed to the 2026 NFL Draft, Clemson will return a veteran core of defensive backs as well.

Veteran corners Ashton Hampton and Branden Strozier, along with rising senior safety Ronan Hanafin, have a chance to take a step up this season in playing time, but also as tenured leaders in the locker room. Unlike the highly-touted transfers, each member of the trio already has a year of experience with Allen’s schemes and coaching style.

This season, they enter spring practice with a clear understanding of their coach’s expectations, on and off the field.

“I’m making sure I’m being the leader in the room,” Hampton, a rising junior, said after practice. “I’m making sure I’m the first one there. I’m making sure I’m echoing all the calls to the young guys, everybody in the secondary– corner, safety. I’m trying to make sure I learn every position on the defense so I can help everybody, not just myself out there on the field.”

Hampton recorded 77 tackles, 17 pass breakups, three interceptions, and a sack in his first two seasons with the Tigers. As a permanent starter, he is a prime candidate to take the torch from Terrell as the leader in his room next season.

“For me, it’s a great feeling because Aveion Terrell pretty much came in and set a standard last year,” Hampton said. “He just passed me the torch and I’m just taking it over from there and I pass it down to the young guys.”

Despite the new portal pieces and “young guys” bringing immediate competition to Hampton and other veterans in the room, Strozier, another corner, is excited for the athletic burst they will bring to Clemson’s defense.

 “They’re explosive,” Strozier said of the transfers. “They are fast, physical. I think we got a good class. I think coach did a really good job. He knew what we needed in certain areas and he got it. You know, like Corey, Elliot, Jerome, I feel like they’re really big pieces. Once they learn the scheme of everything, it’s going to be really good for us.”

Allen noted that along with Myrick and Carter, two of the portal additions that Strozier highlighted, Hanafin is another candidate to be a starter come August. Last season, the Burlington, Mass., native recorded 72 tackles (third-most on the team) with four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and an interception.

Despite being a natural leader on the field, Hanafin is determined not to limit bonding with new players to practice hours. According to the senior, integration with new players will be crucial to the Tigers’ success next season.

“We might get the DBs and go bowling like we did last year,” Hanafin said. “At the end of the day these are the guys we’re going to be friends for life, and just having that deeper connection, whether it’s going to eat or just doing something outside of football, hanging out together is going to be huge for the long run.”

Clemson’s defensive backs will have extended opportunities for bonding in the next few weeks, as the Tigers continue their spring practice through the end of March. Clemson fans can glimpse the new-look secondary for the first time on March 28, when Clemson will host its annual Orange and White Spring Game.