Secondary Taking Last Season’s Failures ‘Personally’
By: Jason Priester August 9, 2026

CLEMSON — Dabo Swinney has been extremely blunt regarding his unhappiness with Clemson’s ability to stop the pass last season.

Swinney actually referred to last season’s pass defense as the worst of his head-coaching career and vowed to make it a focal point for improvement, and that is something that senior cornerback Branden Strozier is taking to heart.

“You definitely take stuff like that personally,” Strozier said. “But it comes with the game. Sometimes you get beat. But it is your job to step up and answer the call, and that is what we are trying to preach.”

The Tigers allowed more than 255 passing yards per game, and ranked just 120th nationally in pass defense.

Part of that could possibly be attributed to learning a new defense, seeing as Tom Allen was in his first season as defensive coordinator. Now that Strozier has a year in the system under his belt, he feels a lot more comfortable in what he is being asked to do.

“Most definitely. Last year was really just understanding, like learning the ropes, new defensive coordinator,” he said. “Just trying to understand what his defense was going to be. But this year, I really feel like I grasp the defense a lot and I am able to understand what other people are doing. So I am able to communicate routes, formations recognition and stuff like that. And pre-snap stuff is easier.”

Strozier saw by far his most extensive action in 2025. While he only started one game, he was on the field for close to 350 snaps, recording 21 tackles, with one tackle for loss and five pass breakups.

The 6-foot-1 defensive back sees that experience he gained last season as invaluable. In fact, he feels like the experience the corners in the room have at this point will prove to be a huge asset for the position group heading into the coming season.

“More experience. I would definitely say that,” Strozier added. “More experience and definitely more confident than we were last year at this point. We got a good room of people who have played a lot. We have that in-game experience and confidence that comes with it.”