Why Carter Welling Holds Special Relationship With This Clemson Football Player

Despite Clemson's starting center missing the beginning of the 2026-27 season, Welling has weekend dinners with one of the most important pieces of Clemson's football team.

Oct 7, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Clemson Tigers Carter Welling answer questions from the media during the ACC Tip-Off in Charlotte, NC. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clemson basketball center Carter Welling is entering his second season with the program in the 2026-27 season, but he’s already taking new players under his wing. 

However, one of those players isn’t even on the team; he plays football for the Tigers with head coach Dabo Swinney. 

During ACC Tipoff on Wednesday afternoon, Welling revealed that he holds a strong friendship with true freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds, who has been the team’s starter for the majority of the season and over the last three games. 

“He’s a guy I go to church with. He’s a great dude,” he said. “He comes over to my house every once in a while for Sunday dinners. I made him chicken the other week, I think that’s why he played so well. I like to take a little credit when I can.”

The two are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS church or Mormons. Both come from out west, with Welling hailing from Draper, Utah, and Reynolds coming from Queen Creek, Arizona. However, when they’re together, it’s not just the faith that they talk about. 

Welling and Reynolds will talk about any topic together, coming from similar walks of life. 

“He comes from a great competitive family, all Division I, softball, football, you name it,” he said. “They’re a really athletic family, and I come from an athletic family too, so we have a lot in common. Especially in faith, we talk about everything.”

The two are seen interacting or together on social media, especially this summer. Those are the relationships that allowed Welling to come back after his junior season, one that ended in heartbreak with a torn ACL in the ACC Tournament. He’s expected to be back in the new year, where he will ramp it up to get the team connected before the postseason. 

That’s on his mind in his senior season: winning a championship of some kind for the Tigers. They haven’t done that in program history: winning an ACC Tournament, but they were able to win two games in Charlotte for the first time in head coach Brad Brownell’s coaching tenure. 

However, relationships like the ones he has with Reynolds are what’s most important during his recovery process. Once he gets back onto the court, it’s only up from there. 

“To hang a banner? That would be awesome. I think just to put the year I played here, to have a legacy here, I think that would be something that’s really special.”

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