CLEMSON — Dabo Swinney is keeping some things close to the vest during fall camp, including what Clemson does with its strong side linebacker position.

The SAM position, also known as the “Tiger” position at Clemson, could be designated for a safety/cornerback or a linebacker depending on an offense’s personnel and scheme.

“A lot of that depends on who you are playing and what does their personal look like,” Swinney said. “Are they 12 personnel? Are they 11 personnel? Are they 10 personnel? Is there best receiver a slot guy.

“I think all of those things dictate who you put on the field. Offense decides who they are putting out there, and defensively, you have to respond to that.”

For those who might be a little football challenged when it comes to personnel, 10 personnel means one running back, no tight ends, while 11 personnel means one running back and one tight end.

Formations with one running back and two tight ends is known as 12 personnel.

“The main thing for us is we have to come out of camp with an answer,” Swinney said. “Who is our big nickel? Who is our, we call it Tiger? We call it the Tiger position. So, who is our every down Tiger and who is our best Cover Tiger? What I will call our true nickel corner, if you will.”

New defensive coordinator Tom Allen deploys a 4-2-5 scheme. However, as Swinney says, they could appear to be in a 4-3, though the “Tiger” position might throw some offenses off.

The “Tiger” can give all kinds of looks, depending on how an offense uses a slot receiver. But in some cases, you can use a hybrid (safety/linebacker) in that position, something Clemson did a lot with Isaiah Simmons back in 2019 under then defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

The question is do the Tigers have an Isaiah Simmons type on this year’s defense. Probably the closest guys to Simmons are Jeremiah Alexander, Wade Woodaz, Jamal Anderson or Ronan Hanafin. Again, this is what Swinney calls the big “Tiger”. As for the Cover Tiger, Shelton Lewis is the likely candidate to start there.

“I think it all depends on who you are playing,” Swinney said. “We need answers, and we need to have some flexibility. That is something we talked about in the spring, and they have worked hard on it.”

When he was at Penn State, Allen used Jaylen Reed in that spot, which Allen called the “Lion” position. Reed (6-0, 211) started all 16 games for the Nittany Lions, while leading the team with 98 tackles, including 6.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, and had three interceptions. 

“The good news is we have a lot of really good candidates, a lot of depth and a lot of good options for whatever presents itself to us to be able to game plan appropriately,” Swinney said.

Clemson kicks off the 2025 season on Aug. 30 when LSU visits Memorial Stadium.