CLEMSON – A familiar face peeked into head coach Dabo Swinney’s office during a meeting with safety Corey Myrick this January.

While Swinney was selling Myrick, a transfer out of Southern Miss, on the culture and “vision” at Clemson, portal commit Jerome Carter III opened the door, strolled in, and gave a simple message to seal the deal.

“Come on, let’s do it,” Carter recalled telling Myrick. “Both of us can come and make an impact.”

Ahead of their joint visit at Clemson, Carter and Myrick knew of each other as two top safety prospects in the transfer portal. For both players, their reputations (and statistics) in their first two collegiate seasons preceded them.

Myrick, a Cincinnati, Ohio, native, notched 95 tackles, four pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble in his first two years. Carter, meanwhile, amassed 98 tackles, six interceptions, and three pass breakups in two seasons with the Old Dominion Monarchs. 

After two dominant years at the Group of 5 level for each defensive back, the pair decided to make the move to the Power 4 level together. Within a day of Carter’s commitment on Jan. 6, Myrick announced that he too, would wear the orange and white.

“We kind of narrowed it down and said we’re going to come here and get this thing back on top,” Myrick said in March.

After that fateful day in Swinney’s office, the dynamic defensive back duo became roommates in the Upstate, and quickly made their mark on the Tigers’ spring practice, on and off the field. From studying film together at home, to dominating praise on the field, Myrick and Cater have been early welcome additions to the Tigers’ secondary.

“Their football IQ is really high,” Allen said of his two new safeties Monday. “I call them low-rep guys because they don’t have to do it a bunch. They’re great in the classroom, listening and learning and taking notes and picking things up.”

The “football IQ” transferred outside of the classroom, as well, according to Allen. Along with being experienced veterans, Myrick and Carter have also brought a new competitive edge to the secondary, as well as an added speed and length boost.

“Every single day that I felt like that we were getting tough competitive guys that can run,” Allen said. “So, it’s the length and speed piece that I love so much, but it’s also passionate, competitive guys.” 

The high level of competition was something that Allen, Swinney, or any other coach did not have to ingrain in the safeties. For Myrick and Carter, intensity is a prerequisite for any practice.

“Just bringing that competitive eagerness,” Myrick said. “It started at ‘All In’ drills. It started from just competing from if we wanted to be first, who’s going to be last, holding people accountable. So, just competitive, just brought the competitors back to the room.”

Despite being new to the team, Carter believes that he and Myrick have a chance to be immediate leaders for the Tigers, especially with several former safeties, including Khalil Barnes and Ricardo Jones exiting after last season.

“We got to be leaders,” Carter said. “We got to be vocal, both of us. We just got to be dogs. We got to lead by example.”

Myrick, who Carter referred to as an “aggressive ball-hawk,” had a similar recipe for leadership after a month of spring practice.

“Just starting off with being vocal,” he said. “Make sure everybody is on the same page in the back end and also going into the linebackers and the D-Line. So, just making sure we are on the same page and basically if we are all on the same page, if we make a mistake, we all make it right.”

Carter and Myrick will have their first chance to show off their speed, length, and competitive fire Saturday, when the Tigers host their annual Orange & White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium. 

Clemson fans can expect to see a lot of the newest transfer pair.