Clemson’s preparation for the Pinstripe Bowl has come with an unusual reality, one Dabo Swinney acknowledged plainly before practice this week.
The Tigers will head to New York missing 26 scholarship players, a combination of injuries, surgeries, transfers, and NFL opt-outs that has stretched the roster on both sides of the ball. Seventeen of those absences are due to injury or surgery, with several players sidelined for weeks and others injured in the South Carolina game.
“But guess what? Nobody cares. It’s next man up,” Swinney quipped.
Clemson is down 12 scholarship players on offense and 14 on defense, including seven starters on each side. Swinney listed multiple starters unavailable offensively, noting that Colin Sadler will require shoulder surgery and that several others are dealing with injuries they attempted to push through late in the season.
“I hate it for some of these guys,” Swinney said. “I mean, like Walker Parks and Wade [Woodaz] would walk to play in this game at New York. But it’s just not an opportunity to do that for them.”
Defensively, in addition to Woodaz, who underwent surgery on Wednesday following his injury against South Carolina, along with several players unavailable due to injury, transfer decisions, or preparation for the NFL.
Five scholarship players — Shelton Lewis, Dee Crayton, Jamal Anderson, Khalil Barnes and Keith Adams — will enter the transfer portal and chose not to finish the season.
“They just wanted to move on and transfer portal,” Swinney said. “So we wish them well and appreciate their contributions here as they move forward.”
In addition to that, four others — Avieon Terrell, Peter Woods, T.J. Parker, and DeMonte Capehart — have opted out of the bowl to prepare for the draft. Terrell and Woods were both recently named AP All-Americans.
Then there is Clemson wideout Antonio Williams, who also declared for the draft, but is out due to an injury. Rather than focusing on those absences, Swinney said Clemson’s emphasis has been on the players who remain.
“We’re not worried about who opted out. We’re focused on who opted in. That’s our focus — is who’s opted in, who’s finishing this game with us,” Swinney said.
Clemson returned to practice last Thursday after completing finals and has worked daily since, with the Tigers scheduled to practice through Thursday before a short break. The team will reconvene Sunday night and travel to New York early Monday morning, where preparation will follow a normal game-week structure.
Despite the roster challenges, Swinney made clear that Clemson is not approaching the bowl as an exhibition or evaluation opportunity.
“They’re just going to go win the game. We’re just trying to win the game,” he said. “That’s all we’re going to do. Just trying to get an eighth win.”
The bowl presents an opportunity for players who may not have logged many snaps this season, particularly in a cold-weather environment, Swinney believes still matters for evaluation and growth.
“Some of these seniors, a lot of these guys won’t play in the NFL,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to play in cold weather. So I’m excited about this opportunity this week, next week.”
For Swinney, the challenge of navigating injuries, departures and absences only sharpens the focus.
“We got a big challenge,” he said. “But I’m excited about the challenge.”
And with Clemson set to face Penn State at Yankee Stadium, the message to his team remains simple and unchanged.
“Nobody cares. It’s next man up.”
