CLEMSON – It’s no secret that Clemson’s defensive tackles room has been ravaged by injuries and real-life adversity over the last several months.

The plague started when Kourtney Kelly, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound West Georgia transfer, tore his ACL in a spring scrimmage, long before he even got the chance to play in a Clemson uniform. Two months later, Hevin Brown-Schuler, a junior in the group who was poised to make an impact in 2026, announced a cancer diagnosis that will keep him sidelined for the indefinite future while he undergoes treatment.

As a result, the remaining group was challenged heartily by head coach Dabo Swinney towards the end of Clemson’s fall camp this year.

“You got some guys that’s kind of now or never, you know, that’s in that group,” Swinney said.  “A couple of guys that have been around here that they are either gonna do it now or probably ain’t gonna do it. One of the two.”

Swinney’s motivational efforts could not stop more blows from coming, however. Once the season started, Oklahoma transfer Markus Strong also sustained an ACL tear and veteran Vic Burley was suspended for the first three games as the result of an off-field issue. 

Devarrick Woods, who the Tigers brought in as a graduate transfer following Brown-Shuler’s diagnosis, rose to start against North Carolina, but suffered a lower-leg injury early in the game, which caused him to miss last week’s game at Cal.

Despite Swinney and defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s best intentions of bolstering the defensive tackle position, which lost two NFL players in the offseason, the Tigers have been hit hard with the injury bug. As a result, in Clemson’s two most recent wins over North Carolina and California, the coaching staff has had to get creative. 

Several times against the Tar Heels, Allen played four defensive ends at one time, masking deficiencies in the D-tackle group by putting edge rushers on the field in obvious passing situations. The new look allowed defensive ends London Merritt and Darien Mayo to combine for two pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, a tackle for loss and five total tackles against North Carolina.

“Having four defensive ends in at a time, it definitely should scare the quarterbacks because we’re coming,” Merritt said after the victory over the Tar Heels.

Following the success of their new look, and with Woods out with an injury, the coaches made the decision to play to their strengths, and started Mayo as one of three defensive ends against the Bears.

“Obviously we had, Devarrick was out,” Swinney said. “We could see he wasn’t quite able to go. So, you know, (Mayo has) played in there. He’s played a good bit in there, and  so, just trying to get our best people on the field.”

Before evaluating the tape, Swinney said he remembered Mayo “flashing” a few times, getting penetration on Cal’s quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele on multiple occasions. 

Mayo, standing 6-foot-7, finished with a tackle and a pass breakup that forced a Bears’ turnover on downs in Clemson’s 24-10 victory.

“We love Mayo,” Swinney said of the former four-star recruit. “Mayo’s a good football player. I mean, he’s 6-foot-7. He’s a big old dude. I mean, he can do a lot. So yeah, we were just trying to create some more depth there.”

For some, a mid-season change of position might have been overwhelming, especially against a dynamic quarterback in a hostile environment, However, maybe even subconsciously, Mayo had been preparing for that moment since spring practices.

“I’m trying to treat myself like a professional,” Mayo said in the spring. “Like I don’t want to look at it as I’m just a regular guy, I’m trying to be a professional in everything I do.”