CLEMSON — Following Thursday’s second scrimmage of fall camp, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney confirmed that Shelton Lewis and Misun Kelley have pretty much anchored their roles as the “Little Tiger” in Tom Allen’s 4-2-5 defense.

However, the verdict is still out on who will play Clemson’s “Big Tiger.”

Swinney said they have two or three linebackers that can play out there, specifically mentioning Wade Woodaz, Jeremiah Alexander and Jamal Anderson.

“We got a lot of options… To me, that was a question mark going into the spring. To me, as far as ‘is our depth going to develop like it needs to,’” he said. “And are they going to do what they need to do from Spring to now? A guy like Jamal, for example.

“Coming out of camp now, we have six backers that can go win for us and that I really believe can function.”

Swinney said it has been a while since he has been able to say he has six or seven guys at linebacker that they trust on the field and know that can play winning football. He also mentioned Fletcher Cothran is another linebacker that has really had a good camp and has come a long way.

One guy Swinney feels everyone forgets about is redshirt junior Kobe McCloud. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second game of the year in 2024.

“You forget, Kobe is a really good player. He is one of those guys that plays beyond his attributes,” the Clemson coach said. “He is a very good football player. He is smart. He is savvy and that really helps him.

“He does not have great measurables, but he plays beyond them. You love guys like that, he is just an instinctive guy. He is tough. He loves to play.”

Swinney continued to praise the linebackers, saying they have developed some nice depth there.

“I think that is going to be a strength for us as we go through the season,” he said. “We have two or three guys that can go play (Big Tiger) if we need them too.”

Clemson will take Saturday off and will get back to camp on Sunday before finishing camp on Monday and Tuesday of next week.