Clemson will soon be getting a much-needed boost to a heavily depleted interior defensive line, in the form of senior defensive tackle Vic Burley, who is being reinstated from his suspension by head coach Dabo Swinney.

Burley missed the 2026 season opener against LSU while serving an indefinite suspension following a late August arrest on public disorderly conduct charges. However, Swinney revealed this week that while Burley will not play this Saturday vs. Georgia Southern, he will be available for the ACC opener against North Carolina on Sept. 19.

And Burley isn’t the only reinforcement coming in the foreseeable future for Clemson’s defensive tackle room that has been facing serious depth questions.

Swinney says the Tigers will get transfer defensive tackle Kourtney Kelly back “sooner than later.”

The West Georgia transfer continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered during a scrimmage in spring practice, and Swinney noted that his eventual return will be a “big shot in the arm” for the D-line.

“We’re going to get Kourtney Kelly back, sooner than later,” Swinney said during his Tuesday press conference. “He’ll be back, and so that’ll be a big shot in the arm for us.”

Kelly was one of many transfer portal acquisitions for Clemson on the defensive side of the ball this past offseason. The junior spent his first two college seasons at West Georgia, where he was credited with 17 tackles (seven for loss), four sacks and a fumble recovery in 11 games in 2025 after appearing in one game while redshirting in 2024.

Swinney added that the 6-foot-3, 290-pound Kelly would have “probably” won a starting role at his position were it not for the injury.

“He’s a guy that probably would have maybe been the starter,” Swinney said. “So, at some point we’ll get him back.”