What Dabo Swinney Sees in Clemson Transfers Jerome Carter and Corey Myrick

Throughout Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney's hour-long press conference on Tuesday, he mentioned that the Tigers need to be more imperative on the back end than last season.

To put those comments into perspective, Clemson's secondary finished last season ranked No. 118 nationally, allowing over 250 passing yards per game and 18 total passing touchdowns. Nearly 40% of the red zone scores they allowed also came through the air.

Individually, starting safeties Khalil Barnes and Ricardo Jones struggled as well, combining to allow 530 passing yards and five touchdowns in coverage.

With both Barnes and Jones now out the door, it begs the question: how can the new additions of Old Dominion transfer Jerome Carter and Southern Miss transfer Corey Myrick help that problem?

Well, that answer is simple for Swinney.

"Maturity [and] confidence," he said. "I'd say the same thing about Myrick. And then, just competitiveness. I mean, these are two, you know, kind of all-conference type players coming from where they're coming from. But those guys are eager to prove that they can go be great at this level. They can be great at Clemson.

"And so, I just think the confidence and the experience that they bring has been awesome because it's what we lost, and so, we needed to replace that."

While they both display all the traits needed in a vastly improved defense, Swinney doesn't just throw around "all-conference" praise for anyone.

Last season for Old Dominion, Carter broke out as a sophomore, totaling 75 tackles, 2.5 for a loss, two pass deflections and six interceptions, which tied for the second-most in the nation. He earned All-Sun Belt Second-team honors for his performance.

Myrick broke out similarly, emerging as a sophomore standout for Southern Miss in 2025 after transferring from Marshall. Across 12 starts, the 6-foot-3 defensive back accumulated 92 tackles, 4.5 for a loss, four pass deflections, two interceptions and one forced fumble.

Now, both will look to carry that momentum into their Power Four debut this season, while proving they can suffice at the position.

As for the rest of the position group, Swinney mentioned that Ronan Hanafin and Noah Dixon have stood out and taken steps. Defensive coordinator Tom Allen also said that true freshman Polo Anderson is expected to be in the rotation heading into 2026.

"He did not disappoint this spring," Allen said. "He did a great job for us. Obviously, he got a chance to play in the spring game and the whole summer. So we talked about three different installs for our defense in the offseason. The first one is spring ball, the second is over the summer, and the third one will be here in fall camp. So this is the third chance he's had to go over [the defense] and learn it."

"I expect him to have a great fall camp. Obviously, that's on him. He has to produce. He has to earn the right to get reps on game day. But because of what he's done in the spring and the work he put in this summer, I expect him to be a guy that's in that rotation."

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