Clemson Football Adds Late Defensive Piece Through Transfer Portal

After seeing an injury to one of its defensive linemen, Clemson football decided to replenish the need with a player who received another year of eligiblity recently.

Clemson defensive tackles coach Nick Eason added another player to his room on Wednesday in Texas State transfer Devarrick Woods. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Before the Clemson Tigers officially head into the summer, head coach Dabo Swinney added another defensive piece to his 2026 roster through the transfer portal. 

Texas State defensive lineman Devarrick Woods had committed to the Tigers on Wednesday morning, announcing it on his Instagram. He will have one year of eligibility remaining with the program. 

Texas State DL Devarrick Woods has committed to Clemson.

This is the Tigers’ 11th transfer addition.

h/t: @adamdropsbombs pic.twitter.com/1W7S1CU1G9

— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) May 13, 2026

Woods came through the JUCO level, playing at Hinds Community College in Mississippi before transferring to the FBS level last season. He spent one season with the Bobcats, finishing with a sack and 16 tackles. Now, he will look to grow within a program that needs depth at the position.

The transfer decision took long due to being granted another year of eligibility a month ago. Since there is no official spring transfer portal window, if players are still in the portal, programs can still go after them, and that’s what Clemson did.  

During this spring, Swinney saw West Georgia transfer Kourtney Kelly go down early, tearing his ACL and most likely missing most of the 2026 season. Because of this, Clemson went in to get Woods, a raw prospect that was a three-star recruit coming out of the JUCO level. He is a top 150 prospect from the 2025 class, according to On3.

Clemson wasn’t the only team to go after the 6-foot-3, 275-pound lineman either. Florida State and Florida made good runs to try to get Woods, while other programs like NC State and Colorado were also making a push to add another piece to their respective rosters. 

Defensive coordinator Tom Allen added his fourth transfer lineman of the class with the pickup. Woods will join Oklahoma transfer Markus Strong, Kelly and fellow JUCO product Andy Burburija in the room throughout this summer. Add in key returners like Amare Adams and Vic Burley, and the Tigers have plenty of depth at the position after losing quality from the past seasons. 

It’s a season to rebuild the defensive tackle spot, which lost the likes of DeMonte Capehart and Peter Woods to the NFL Draft this past April. For the first time, nobody truly knows who will be the top two guys to go out in Week 1 to produce for Allen’s group. 

He might not be a player to produce immediately, but Woods will look to hear his name called and make a name for himself after a strong JUCO career led him to the moment. Now, he will look to cherish that in his final season of college football. 

Clemson Tigers on SI has all of the updates with the program’s roster through the portal with our transfer portal tracker, which has kept a tab on every Tiger who has come and gone throughout this offseason.