Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney held his weekly Zoom conference call with the media on Sunday afternoon, following the Tigers’ 20-19 win at No. 20 Louisville on Friday night.

Swinney gave an injury update on veteran right guard Walker Parks, who went down in the fourth quarter of the win over Louisville.

Parks was seen after the game on crutches and in a walking boot. The sixth-year senior has already missed five games this season, dealing with injuries.

On Sunday, Swinney said that Parks hurt his ankle against Louisville and will be out for the year.

“That just breaks my heart. It really does,” Swinney said. “But at the same time, I’m thankful for Walker. I really wasn’t sure he was going to be able to play football again a couple years ago.”

Swinney added, “I love Walker Parks. I’ve never had or seen a more committed and dedicated player to the game of football, to his team, to his coaches, or to his school. Walker, he’s special.

“Football is a tough sport, and it rarely ends the way any of us want it to end.”

Parks has started five games this season, including each of the last three games against Louisville, Florida State and Duke. He entered the 2025 season already standing as one of 28 players on record in school history to play 2,500 career snaps from scrimmage.

An ESPN freshman All-American as a reserve in 2020, Parks earned the starting right tackle role entering his sophomore year in 2021 and transitioned to guard during fall camp in 2022. He entered 2025 having played 2,810 career snaps over 53 games (42 starts).

Despite missing a lot of time due to injury, Parks entered his sixth season at Clemson in 2025 already ranking 12th on-record in school history in career snaps from scrimmage. The 6-foot-5, 310-pounder was a 2024 All-ACC selection and is a three-time All-ACC Academic Team selection.

Clemson (5-5, 4-4 ACC) returns to the field on Saturday to host Furman at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. on The CW.