Clemson Tigers Losing Another Cornerback For Remainder of 2026 Season

Clemson football has seen its secondary go down one by one with injuries throughout the 2026 season. Now, head coach Dabo Swinney will be without another important piece for the remainder of the year.

On his Sunday weekly teleconference, Swinney announced that cornerback Donovan Starr will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Although there’s only a month until the regular season ends, Clemson will be without the Auburn transfer for the rest of the way.

When the Tigers get to their postseason game, though, there’s a chance for Starr to return, according to Swinney.

“Maybe he’ll be back for the postseason. We’ll see,” Swinney said. “But, he’ll definitely be out these next few games.”

Starr was filling in at the nickel position for about the last month, seeing an elevated role after the nickelback to begin the season, Corian Gipson, was also out with a season-ending injury. He recorded 12 total tackles, three pass breakups and three pass deflections on the season before going down with the injury in the win over the Syracuse Orange this past weekend.

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Clemson is already without a handful of starters heading into that game with the Orange, and it will now be without a starting member of the secondary who had to step up. Now, Swinney and defensive coordinator Tom Allen have a slim number of choices to help aid the effort.

The expectation is that senior Branden Strozier will step up in Starr’s role with him being out for the remainder of the regular season. The Lovejoy, Georgia, native had a tackle in the win in upstate New York, playing in the position after he went down.

Swinney also gave two other names as potential contributors to the position. The first, a freshman: Marcell Gipson Jr. The Dallas native has come onto the scene over the course of this season, getting praise from plenty of the defensive staff and even getting snaps in the matchup against Charleston Southern in October.

A mid-year enrollee this January, Gipson was a three-star recruit from the 2025 class, according to 247Sports.

The other player could be senior Misun Kelley, who is a former wide receiver who switched to a defensive back in the 2025 offseason. The Central native has three tackles on the season and has seen time in the secondary this season, but has lost his role to the likes of Starr over the course of the season.

Clemson will need to find an answer quickly at the position, but it will be Strozier’s to lose for the rest of the way. The Tigers will be back in action against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets next Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

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