After giving some bad injury news for Clemson on Monday evening, announcing that starting nickelback Corian Gipson will be out for the rest of the season, head coach Dabo Swinney also delivered some positive news on the injury front.

Swinney shared that transfer defensive tackle Kourtney Kelly will hopefully make his season debut in two weeks vs. Charleston Southern, if everything goes well between now and then.

The West Georgia transfer has been recovering from a torn ACL suffered during a scrimmage in spring practice.

“On a good note, we anticipate hopefully getting Kourtney Kelly back, maybe for Charleston Southern,” Swinney said. “So, we’ll just have to see. We’ll have to see how he responds. So, he’ll get his first live work this week and next week. If everything goes well with the doctors, there’s a chance he might be able to play in that game.”

After the open date this weekend, the Tigers will welcome Charleston Southern to Memorial Stadium on Oct. 17, with kickoff set for noon on ACC Network.

Kelly’s return would provide a much-needed boost to a Clemson interior defensive line that has been heavily depleted this season.

Kelly was one of many transfer portal acquisitions for Clemson on the defensive side of the ball this past offseason. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound 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.