CLEMSON – Clemson’s upcoming season will be a big one for the recruiting class of 2024.
The rising junior class, which was ranked 14th nationally on signing day, featured the talents of linebacker Sammy Brown and wide receivers T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr., who have become centerpieces in the Tigers’ starting lineup.
It also boasted names like four-star tight end Christian Bentancur, cornerback Corian Gipson, defensive back Ashton Hampton and kicker Nolan Hauser, all players that were critical at times to Clemson’s success in the last two seasons.
While these players and several others from the 2024 class have already introduced themselves to Clemson fans with memorable moments on the field, former four-star defensive end Darien Mayo might just get his opportunity this season.
“Darien Mayo is a guy that I expect big things from moving forward,” defensive coordinator Tom Allen said of the rising redshirt sophomore last December.
Mayo committed to Clemson after being named Rivals’ No. 105 player in the nation after a prolific career at Good Counsel High School in Olney, Md. At the time, the edge rusher was ranked as the fifth-highest prospect in the Tigers’ class.
He chose Clemson over 20 other Power Conference offers, but sat behind 2026 NFL Draft pick T.J. Parker in his first year and decided to redshirt and maintain an extra year of eligibility. While redshirting, Mayo was credited with 33 snaps across four games, and generated a season-high four tackles against the Citadel in November.
“(Mayo’s) gotten better, and he’s stronger,” head coach Dabo Swinney said after Mayo’s true freshman season. “Obviously, he’s got great measurables, but kind of weak in his water when he got here. Big, long guy. Wasn’t able to come until the summer, so power hour was huge for him.”
As a redshirt freshman in 2025, Mayo appeared in seven games, notching a tackle against Furman and another in Clemson’s Pinstripe Bowl loss to Penn State. With Parker, as well as veterans Peter Woods, Demonte Capehart, and Jaheim Lawson out against the Nittany Lions Mayo got his first real opportunity to show off his 6-foot-7, 270 pound frame.
“That was great for my development honestly,” Mayo said after a spring practice in March. “Just getting the reps and getting a big time game against Penn State. We didn’t win but it was great for my development and a big step, confidence booster for this new season.”
This offseason, in what head coach Dabo Swinney calls Clemson’s “transformation phase,” Mayo said he will focus on mobility, as well as honing in on details of Allen’s defense ahead of its second year implemented at Clemson.
“Yeah, you definitely used to it, right?” Mayo said of the defense. “But at the end of the day, you still got to adapt. I still had to do things to (learn) the defense, so, just getting that type of thing down, but it’s definitely familiarity with it.”
That improvement paid off in Clemson’s Annual Orange & White Spring Game, in which the lineman was credited with six tackles. Mayo was also credited with 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
Mayo led the Orange team in tackles, and stood out among members of both defensive teams. After the performance, Swinney said that with “the spring he’s had,” Mayo may be primed for a bigger role in 2026.
Preseason All-ACC defensive end Will Heldt, who led the Tigers with 15.5 tackles for loss last season, will be primed to start on one end for Clemson’s defense this season. Lawson, a rising redshirt senior recovering from an injury, will most likely take the other starting job.
But with several other 2025 defenders off to the NFL Draft or out of eligibility, Mayo has a chance to get meaningful playing time for the Tigers, and join other class of 2024 members as a valuable piece of Clemson’s game plans.
Mayo and the Tigers will get their first opportunity on Sept 5, when Clemson heads to Baton Rouge, La. to open its season against LSU.
