How New Competition Has Clemson's Defense Changing Under Tom Allen

There have only been four practices this spring, but Clemson Tigers’ defensive coordinator Tom Allen has a big difference compared to his first spring.

Competition will be everywhere.

Allen spoke to the media on Monday night after practice, and the defensive coordinator spoke about the defense overall through the portal and what he expects to happen going into 2026. The transfers have already made an impact, and it hasn’t even been a full week of practices yet.

But Allen knew that from the start.

“Just the length and speed of those new guys is noticeable, and I think just the fact that they’re experienced,” he said. “They all bring quality reps, for the most part, and a lot of confidence. So, I just think that things we were trying to go address, and yeah, it’s very apparent.”

He called the transfer portal “fast and furious”, but ended up securing eight defensive transfers and a junior college commitment in Andy Burburija. Despite a high amount, the second-year defensive coordinator at Clemson has a strong belief that all of them will play a role for the Tigers next season, both from their experience and the competition that they bring.

It lights a fire underneath the players who are currently waiting for a starting role as well.

“I want guys that want to be here and want to come here and compete to help us become a great defense,” Allen said, “but I really do feel like I’ve only got four practices, but I believe that everyone that has been brought in here is going to help us, and I’m really excited about it.”

With plenty of practices to prove themselves, now the retained Clemson players are fighting back for their position, unlike a traditional season in years past, where the transfer portal was a non-factor. Instead of waiting for their successor to graduate or go to the NFL Draft, new, experienced players are fighting for the same spot.

And that’s what Allen wants; it’s going to make everybody better.

“It kind of wakes up the guys in our locker room,” he said. “Because, sometimes, ‘Oh, I’m the next guy because of time,’ and you know what? That just changed, so there’s some good things about that, you know.”

“It forces those guys in those positions to step into that role, and they’re going to have to go and compete for it, and I think that’s an awesome thing. That’s what you want.”

There’s another factor within Allen’s unit that is different compared to last season, and the transfers have helped with it: depth. He said on Monday that no position had a set starter just yet, meaning everybody has a chance to take a starting role on a defense that lost the likes of Peter Woods, T.J. Parker, Ricardo Jones and Wade Woodaz.

If he is honest, that was a vulnerable aspect of the defense a year ago.

“There’s competition at every position,” Allen said. “That’s probably my biggest overall difference from last season. I finished last spring, concerned about our depth, I really was, and that proved to be an issue. So, I just think that we have a lot of competition, and it’s every position.”

The mixture of the transfer pieces, standout freshman and hungry returning players looking to make a name for themselves has the defense hungry to erase the plays that haunted Clemson’s unit in 2025. If things continue to progress the way they have been, Allen will have a much-improved defense, one compared to the program’s unit of old.

But the work is far from over.

“That’s what I think it’s done for our defense,” Allen said. “We needed the depth, we needed the guys to create competition, and it’s made the other dudes, it’s just like anything else, I mean, iron sharpens iron.”