Now in his second season at Clemson, veteran linebacker Jeremiah Alexander drew no shortage of praise from head coach Dabo Swinney and defensive coordinator Tom Allen on Tuesday.

Swinney named the former five-star prospect and Alabama transfer as arguably the team’s early-season most improved player, as well as one of the Tigers’ most physical defenders.

Through the first four games of the 2026 season, Alexander has started every matchup, racking up 32 tackles (1.5 for loss), a half-sack and a pass breakup while anchoring the middle of the Clemson defense alongside fellow linebacker Sammy Brown.

Heading into Saturday’s matchup against No. 4 Miami at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium (7:30 p.m., ABC), Alexander ranks fourth on the team in total tackles.

“Jeremiah Alexander might be the most improved guy on our team,” Swinney said. “He’s one of the most physical guys we’ve got.”

Swinney has previously praised Alexander for his work ethic, saying, “If everybody worked like Jeremiah Alexander, this would be the easiest job in America.”

On Tuesday, Allen echoed that sentiment about Alexander’s elite work ethic, noting “there’s nobody on this team that has worked any harder” as Alexander continues his transition from defensive end to linebacker.

Alexander played primarily as an edge rusher in high school before making the move to linebacker at Alabama. He spent his first three seasons (2022-24) there but was part of an extremely crowded linebacker room. Much of his work came on special teams during his time in Tuscaloosa, so he didn’t have much game experience at linebacker upon joining the Tigers early in 2025, but has worked extremely hard to make the adjustment.

Allen brought up how he specifically highlighted Alexander in front of the entire defense recently.

“I actually called him out in front of the whole team, the whole defense, recently,” Allen said. “Just to say, look, there’s nobody on this team that has worked any harder than that young man has. Just so proud of him. He hasn’t played a lot of linebacker in the past. He played a lot of edge and defensive end in high school and for a few years of college, and so it’s a whole new position for him.

“But the care factor and the want-to is just so high for him. Just really, really impressed with his work ethic, how he’s tried to shape his body and get a step faster. Now he’s playing with confidence, and he’s super physical in the run game, and rushing the passer is one of his strengths.”

After transferring to Clemson, Alexander appeared in all 13 games last season and made three starts in his debut season as a Tiger, finishing the year credited with 33 tackles (1.5 for loss), one sack, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery over 220 defensive snaps.

Fast forward to this year, and Alexander has already played 159 snaps through four games, finding his home in Allen’s system as the starting middle (Mike) linebacker. His emergence has provided Allen flexibility within his scheme, particularly in terms of how Brown is deployed.

“I just think that his emergence has been huge for us. We needed that,” Allen said of Alexander. “We needed backers, for that group to step up, and he has. Others have as well, but he’s kind of been the one that’s really taken that next step.

“It does allow us to move Sammy around a little bit and allow us to use him in some different ways and allows us to really kind of firm up against the run, which we’ve got to have. Just to have a big, physical linebacker in the core is an important thing for us. So, just super proud of Jeremiah and his progress. Just want him to keep improving and keep getting better in the areas he needs to focus on. But really excited about where he’s at.”