CLEMSON – Head Coach Dabo Swinney and his staff decided pretty quickly that Corian Gipson would not play his freshman year.

The Fort Worth, Texas, native joined Clemson’s 2024 recruiting class as a four-star prospect and Top-100 player in the nation, but an ACL tear in his senior year of high school set the cornerback behind where he wanted to be. 

“He was a guy early on that we were like, ‘Yeah, he ain’t playing,’” Swinney said. “ He ain’t ready to play. We just gotta get him back where he’s got a good foundation, because he didn’t play his senior year, got hurt early, so it’s really two years since he’s played football.”

And so Gipson, once ranked On3’s fifth-best cornerback in the nation, redshirted his freshman season. He saw 14 defensive snaps and made his collegiate debut on special teams in the season-opener against Georgia in 2024, but the majority of reps came from practice.

“It was kind of hard coming in after starting from freshman year to senior year in high school,” Gipson said. “Coming here, I’m not the guy yet. It was kind of hard, but I had to just believe in myself, believe in God. It’s a process with everything I do.”

With that mindset, Gipson threw himself into the system that Swinney famously calls “the crockpot,” a development program to help younger or injured players reach their potential. He participated in “Power Hour” extra lifts, got back to full knee health last spring, and began to trust his body again right when defensive coordinator Tom Allen arrived in the Upstate.

“​​Having a coach like Coach Allen just coming in, he just gave me that confidence,” the former Texas track champion said. “(Allen was) telling me that I’m him. Like I can be who I want to be if I just put the work in and do what I’m supposed to do.”

So far this season, that encouragement has paid off for Gipson. Through nine games, the redshirt freshman has already played 76 snaps compared to last season’s 14, notching three tackles and three pass breakups, trailing only starting defensive backs Aveion Terrell (11), Ashton Hampton (8) and linebacker Sammy Brown (4).

His most recent breakup came in the fourth quarter of the 24-10 win over Florida State, when he knocked a pass from Seminoles quarterback Tommy Castellanos right into the hands of Clemson safety Ricardo Jones for an interception. This play ultimately stripped Florida State of its last chance to cut the Tigers’ lead and secured Clemson’s (4-5, 3-4 ACC) first home victory over a Power Conference opponent this season.

For Swinney, Gipson’s success shares a clear message: Don’t give up on your freshmen.

“That’s the bad thing about the world we’re in now, is if these freshmen aren’t amazing as freshmen, immediately something’s wrong with them,” he said. “But they’re just freshmen. There’s very few (players like offensive lineman) Brayden Jacobs. There ain’t many of them. And if every freshman shows up and they’re all starting, well, you haven’t recruited very well, and you haven’t developed very well. It’s just a process. But, I mean, (Gipson’s) a redshirt freshman. His confidence is growing, his knowledge is growing.”

While Gipson did not get any snaps in the Tigers’ 33-21 loss to the Louisville Cardinals last season, he still watched as Clemson suffered the “embarrassing” home defeat, according to Swinney.

Gipson and the Tigers will have a chance to rematch the Cardinals on Friday, as Clemson heads up to take on Louisville (7-2, 4-2 ACC) at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and coverage will be shown on ESPN.