CHARLOTTE – The Tigers added a new talent to the defensive line, and he has already made a massive impact.

Over the offseason, head coach Dabo Swinney dipped into the portal, grabbing a total of three transfers. Possibly their most influential pickup has been Will Heldt. A former defensive edge at Purdue, Heldt is a junior who spent his first two seasons as a Boilermaker before making the decision to come to Clemson.

At the ACC Media Kickoff in Charlotte, NC, multiple Clemson players spoke about the impact that Heldt has already made.

“That dude is a machine,” quarterback Cade Klubnik said. “He’s a machine. Like, it’s crazy. He lives, breathes, and dies football, and he is unbelievable and going to help us a ton.

Heldt had his best season in his previous year, where he amassed 56 total tackles and five sacks, while making a fumble return for a touchdown against Illinois. His massive frame and dangerous speed have made him a threat for teams to face, and the Tigers capitalized by snagging him to work and improve on the defensive line.

“He’s just making me better, and watching him go up there on Saturdays and get extra work in,” Klubnik said. “He eats, like, 14 meals a day. It’s crazy, and he’s jacked. You’d think how much food he eats, he’d be fat, but he’s just a workaholic dude, and he’s making everybody around him better.”

The 6-foot-6, 260-pound defensive end graduated from his hometown high school in Carmel, Indiana, in 2022, where he was ranked as a 3-star edge and the No. 18 player in Indiana. He started off in a limited role at Purdue before becoming an involved piece on the line in his sophomore year, which helped him attract more attention once he entered the transfer portal in December.

“The moment he stepped foot on campus for his visit, I saw him around, and I was like, ‘Well, we can tear through college football,’” edge TJ Parker said. “For him to come in and push the whole room to be better, it squeezes everybody to the top.”

Heldt is expected to be the only player in this year’s transfer class to be an immediate starter for the Tigers, who face the LSU Tigers on August 30. Despite being an upperclassman transferring to a big new school, he has been welcomed with open arms and brought a new energy to the defense.

“He was automatically a leader on our team,” defensive tackle Peter Woods said. “He definitely brought some ju-ju to the defensive room, and we like to call him, he’s like a robot. The way he pushes weight off his chest when he benches it to his pash rush moves, it’s like he was made in a factory.”

Heldt and the Tigers will continue to work in preseason camp before facing the LSU Tigers in Week One.