Dabo Swinney Still Waiting for an 'Alpha' to Emerge at Defensive Tackle

Over the course of Clemson Football's offseason, there have been two key position groups with major questions heading into 2026: linebackers and defensive tackles.

Today, though, we'll be focusing on the interior defensive line, which has lost both starters — Peter Woods and DeMonte Capehart — from last season to the NFL and a key rotational player, Stephiylan Green, who transferred to LSU following the season's end.

Following the Tigers' final scrimmage on Thursday afternoon, head coach Dabo Swinney was not pleased with the outcome, calling it "the worst practice of camp" and stating that "it was not even close."

During the 20-minute press conference, he also constructively criticized the defensive tackles when asked whether the group had shown him what he wanted to see throughout camp — especially given that he'd called the room an 'unknown' just last month.

"Nope, I think they're a bunch of nobodies," Swinney began. "That's kind of who they are. I don't think there's anybody at that position yet that has earned it. I think there's talent there. There's a lot of good players there, but you know, I haven't really seen an alpha yet at that position. I think I got one at every other position, but I ain't seen one at d-tackle yet. I'm waiting."

While the response was extremely blunt and not what most fans want to hear two weeks out from the season-opener against LSU, Swinney still thinks it's a very talented group. It's simply that the room doesn't have a standout like other position groups do.

"But that's okay," he continued. "Sometimes it's going to be, you know, a group of guys, and I think it's a talented group. I really do. But, just to say like, oh, boom, it's, you know, there's Will Heldt, there's Jahiem [Lawson], you know, I don't have that. There's Sammy [Brown]. There's Jeremiah [Alexander], there's Kobe [McCloud]. You know, there's Brayden [Jacobs]. There's [Collin] Sadler, Harris [Sewell]."

The veteran coach also believes inexperience within the program is a factor. He specifically named JUCO transfer Andy Burburija and Texas State transfer DeVarrick Woods as players who fall under that category.

If he had to single out one player from the room to be that 'alpha,' though, it would be sophomore Amare Adams — a former five-star recruit who just needs to take the next step to become the player Swinney believes he can be.

"But I think some of it is, you know, they're new guys," he stated. "Burburija hadn't been here. He's still figuring it out. DeVarrick had never been here; he's figuring it out. But they're experienced guys, good football players. Amare, I think, is probably the closest. We just need him to kind of take that step as far as being that alpha dog."

Swinney then went over returners Vic Burley and Champ Thompson, as well as West Georgia transfer Kourtney Kelly, who have been hurt and haven't necessarily had the chance to lead due to the missed time.

He also made sure to point out how impressed he's been with true freshman Kam Cody and Oklahoma transfer Markus Strong. Still, he thinks the strength of the room is the group as a whole, rather than one player.

"Burley, we just got back, so, you know, kind of hard to lead when you're not out there," Swinney told the media. "Same thing with Champ, you know, he was out for a while. He's back now. But I like the group, I really like Kam Cody. I like him a lot. I think he's going to be a good player, but he's just a young pup."

"I love Kourtney Kelly, I think he's a guy that can be an alpha force, but he's out right now, working his way back. Markus Strong has really flashed; he's shown some flashes. But same thing, new guy coming in, so I think it's just kind of a room right now that kind of their strength is their group, you know?"

As mentioned, Swinney doesn't necessarily think it's a bad thing, as there have been years when a group does have an alpha but struggles outside that one player. Nevertheless, he still wants to see one of the many interior linemen at his disposal separate from the rest of the group ahead of Week 1.

"It's not really one guy, which I don't think that's a bad thing," he finished. "I've had years where we had one guy who's an absolute dude, and then we kind of drop off after that. I think this is a group that we have a bunch of guys that can play in there, and so I'm still waiting for that alpha to separate."

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