Dabo Swinney continues to crush Clemson's anti-transfer narrative with addition of Alabama defender

CLEMSON Dabo Swinney has left no doubt this offseason about his openness to using the transfer portal.

After additions at receiver and edge rusher, Clemson has reeled in Alabama transfer Jeremiah Alexander , according to multiple reports.

The 6-foot-2, 232-pound Alexander was a five-star prospect coming out of Thompson High in Alabama where he was teammates with current Clemson defender Peter Woods .

Alexander considered Clemson among his finalists in 2021 but inevitably chose Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.

He didn't play much over three seasons, though.

The redshirt sophomore finished with five tackles in 2024 under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer.

Now, Alexander gets a fresh start with a program he nearly joined out of high school, alongside a former teammate in Woods.

Swinney now has a trifecta of transfers this offseason, including Purdue edge rusher Will Heldt and Southeast Missouri State receiver Tristan Smith .

It immediately follows a 2024 offseason where the Tigers were the only non-military academy in college football to not add a transfer.

Since the advent of the portal in 2018, Clemson's only scholarship transfer additions were backup quarterbacks Hunter Johnson and Paul Tyson in back-to-back seasons.

Swinney has now topped that total in one offseason.

This isn't to say Swinney hasn't tried to add transfers before because Clemson struck out with offensive line targets ahead of the 2022 and 2024 seasons.

But this offseason has definitely taken a different shape than in years past.

This was partially out of necessity.

Clemson had a small 2025 signing class with just 15 incoming freshmen.

Five scholarship athletes hit the portal, including a pair of receivers in Troy Stellato (Kentucky) and Noble Johnson (Arizona State).

That's a relatively small number of outgoing transfers, but the Tigers only had one receiver, Carleton "Juju" Preston , joining the roster as a recruit.

The addition of Smith balanced the scales there.

Clemson also had a decommitment at defensive end in the 2025 cycle, Bryce Davis, who flipped to Duke.

Heldt filled the gap initially, but then rising junior A.J.

Hoffler departed for Georgia Tech via the portal.

The Tigers needed another edge defender, and Alexander fits a need.

It's just a question of whether he will feature specifically as a linebacker or an edge rusher in Clemson's scheme.

That might depend on who exactly runs the defense because Swinney is in the process of finding a new coordinator after parting ways with Wes Goodwin .

If the Tigers stick with a 4-2-5 scheme, Alexander would have to choose between sticking his hand in the dirt at defensive end or rotating with Wade Woodaz and Sammy Brown in the linebacking corps.

If Clemson switches to a 3-4 defense, Alexander potentially fits as an edge-rushing outside linebacker..

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