How Clemson Edge Rusher Will Heldt is Building On 2025 in His Senior Season

An offseason ago, Clemson made headlines by going into the transfer portal for the first time. Edge rusher Will Heldt headlined the small group that head coach Dabo Swinney brought.

The Purdue transfer comes into 2026 as the team’s best edge rusher based off of previous numbers. In his first season as a Tiger, he finished with 7.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss, which led the defense in both statistics.

But going into next season, it’s not what he’s doing to opposing players that he wants to get better at. Heldt wants to be a vocal leader on defense in what could be his final season of playing college football.

And that quality of his game wasn’t something he had in seasons past.

“I think I’ve always been more of that lead-by-example guy,” he said at ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Just set the tone and allow others to see what I’m doing and follow me.”

The new role comes after the rest of his defensive line teammates went to the next level. That begins with edge rusher T.J. Parker, who played on the opposite side of Heldt and was one of his closest friends throughout the season they had together.

Clemson also had two others who were selected in the 2026 NFL Draft that the senior was able to learn from, too.

“I love him to death, great player, and that not only him, DeMonte Capehart, Peter Woods, Cade Denhoff, all those guys,” he said. “It was an honor to play with all of them.”

“Being in the same room with him and spending day in and day out with each other, we’re able to bounce so many ideas off each other and learn and just throw our games together,” Heldt added about Parker.

He’s taking those learning experiences with him into 2026, a season where he will be one of the most important leaders on defense. He returns with a strong relationship with position coach Chris Rumph as well, who has continued to produce draft talent in the past.

The Tigers are looking to bounce back next season after going 7-6, the worst record Clemson has had since 2010. However, the perspective for Heldt, a former Boilermaker, is that he picked up the more wins last season than he did in his entire career.

Now, he wants to prove Clemson belongs at the top of the college football world on some important stages.

“I think part of the reason you play the game is for those opportunities to play on cool stages in front of big crowds and things like that,” Heldt said. “But at the end of the day, we’re just excited to get out and play football.”

However, what will be prioritized is his communication, which is a big factor in Tom Allen’s defense that is entering its second season.

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