2025 Position Review/2026 Fall Preview: Cornerback
· Yahoo Sports
Enough with the question marks, let’s get to the strengths!
I’m certainly old enough to remember when Clemson had some solid to very good defenses as a whole but had a weak link at at least one corner position. That really started to change in 2002 with Justin Miller’s arrival. Clemson went on a run of having very good corner play over most of the last 20+ seasons. Last season was really not an exception despite the team’s extremely disappointing 7-6 record. Clemson’s primary duo of Avieon Terrell and Ashton Hampton were strong on the outside, but the inside nickelback spot was exposed a good bit and depth was relatively poor. Shelton Lewis had a promising beginning back in 2023, but his final outing as a Tiger was the Syracuse debacle where he got burned badly, got benched, then quit the team to eventually enter the portal (he is now at Arkansas). Now Terrell is in Atlanta with his brother, but one of Clemson’s transfer portal wins bolstered this position and it should be a strength for 2026.
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There was speculation Mike Reed could be among the ousters following last season but count me among those who did not want that to happen. It is hard to argue with Reed’s production both as a recruiter and developer over his time. AV Terrell was the latest high draft choice joining the likes of MacKenzie Alexander, Cordrea Tankersley, Trayvon Mullen, AJ Terrell, Andrew Booth, and Nate Wiggins since Reed’s arrival in 2013.
Ashton Hampton has switched to the #2 jersey that Wiggins wore his final two seasons and Clemson fans are hoping Hampton can put together a season like Nate did in 2023 when he was absolutely dominant. Hampton’s elite size and length for the position is now coupled with two years of heavy action at this level, and year 3 has often proven to be the big year for Clemson’s most decorated corners since Reed arrived. Hampton has been a popular choice for first team All-ACC coming off his 2025 when he posted 45 tackles, 3TFLs, 1 sack, 1 interception, and 9 PBUs.
Clemson added Penn State transfer Elliot Washington who made a major splash during the spring getting takeaways and was tabbed the “best player” in the spring by Coach Swinney. Washington is physically impressive and boasts legitimate sub 4.4 speed, not to mention he brought familiarity with Tom Allen’s system from when Allen coached him at Penn State. Washington and Hampton should be among the top corner duos in the conference, if not the nation.
As I noted earlier, depth has been more problematic for the Tigers since 2020-2021. The transfer era has led to far less depth for even the top programs in the nation who had been accustomed to stockpiling blue chips. One positive development I see for Clemson has been the growth of Branden Strozier who is in line to be a primary backup. I was at the 2024 UVA game and Strozier did not look like he belonged on the field that day. That was somewhat the case last year against GT as well, but he played significantly better as the year went on and is poised to build on that in his fourth year in the program.
It will be very interesting to see how the staff handles Corian Gipson who helped stop the leakage at the nickel spot down the stretch of 2025. Clemson returns part time starter Tink Kelley and added Auburn transfer Donovan Starr who projects as a nickel and looked good in the spring game at that spot. If either of those guys can hold down the nickel, it might allow for Gipson to go back to corner. However, in the effort to get the best 11 on the field, Gipson may stay inside unless something happens to either Hampton or Washington. The Tigers certainly appear to have more options and flexibility with this than they had last season, or even back in 2022 when safety Andrew Mukuba was forced to play corner. Any team would be thrilled to have four guys they feel good to relatively good about at any position in this era, and Clemson is close to that with the corner spot.
Clemson has veteran Myles Oliver back in his fifth year in the program. Oliver has had very little meaningful action to speak of and will likely be passed by incoming freshmen Shavar Young and Marcell Gipson (no relation to Corian), but all of those guys figure to be behind the top group of Hampton, Washington, Strozier, C. Gipson, Starr, and Kelley.
Tiger fans certainly won’t have to wait long to assess this group because they face a very talented skill group at LSU right out of the gate. It will be very interesting to monitor how things shake out during the good on good portions of fall camp now that the Tigers are back to full strength at WR.