Dabo Swinney Says Two Clemson Linebackers Have ‘Separated’ During Fall Camp
CLEMSON — One of Clemson's biggest defensive questions entering the 2026 season is beginning to get a little clearer.
The Tigers knew what they had in Sammy Brown. What they needed to determine during fall camp was how much they could trust the linebackers around him.
After Clemson's first week of camp, Dabo Swinney says two players have started to provide an answer: Jeremiah Alexander and Kobe McCloud.
“I'd say the same thing I said about running back. It's a better room than people think,” Swinney said Tuesday. “The two guys that have probably separated a little bit are Jeremiah and Kobe. Those two guys have really given us confidence that, hey, okay, we've kind of got a top three, if you will, that we feel really good about.”
It's one of the more significant personnel developments Swinney has revealed during the early stages of camp.
Alexander, a graduate senior, and McCloud, a graduate junior, are both experienced options. Neither was a full-time starter last season, but both played meaningful snaps.
Alexander (6'2, 235) appeared in all 13 games in 2025, making three starts and playing 220 defensive snaps. He finished with 33 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and three pass breakups.
McCloud (5'11, 225) appeared in all 13 games with one start and logged 236 defensive snaps. He recorded 28 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and five pass breakups.
Now Clemson is asking more of both.
And Swinney's reference to a “top three” suggests the Tigers are gaining confidence in a group built around the trio.
That's important for a defense replacing significant experience from last season.
Brown was Clemson's leading tackler, producing 107 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and five sacks while starting all 13 games. His 734 defensive snaps were also the most among Clemson defenders.
The question isn't whether Brown can handle a prominent role.
It's what Clemson looks like when he isn't on the field — something Swinney had previously challenged the linebacker room to prove.
Asked Tuesday whether the group had begun answering that challenge, Swinney didn't declare the issue solved. But he wasn't disappointed, either.
The emergence of Alexander and McCloud appears to be a major reason why.
Both also give the Tigers something particularly valuable: positional flexibility.
That could allow Clemson to mix and match its top linebackers rather than building the entire rotation around one rigid depth chart.
And behind that top group, there remains plenty to settle.
“The room is competing. Ben Boulware is doing a great job, along with Tom Allen. We just got to keep going. Got a long way to go. Then we get to the game, got to get them ready to play a game, and then we'll go from there.”
The roster includes Fletcher Cothran, C.J. Kubah-Taylor, Drew Woodaz, Logan Anderson, and freshman Brayden Reilly among the linebackers competing behind the more established group.
That competition fits the larger theme of Clemson's camp.
“Yeah, yeah, a lot of competition, a lot of promotion, a lot of demotion,” Swinney emphasized on Tuesday. “We've got some guys that run out there first every day, but we don't have any starters.”
That makes his comments about Alexander and McCloud particularly noteworthy.
Swinney wasn't handing either player a starting job. Clemson hasn't even reached its first major preseason scrimmage yet, and Swinney repeatedly stressed Tuesday how much evaluation remains.
But in a camp where Clemson's head coach insists jobs are still being won and lost, two linebackers have done enough to separate themselves from the pack.
The next major evaluation arrives Saturday, when Clemson holds the first of its two preseason scrimmages.
That's when Clemson can begin learning whether what it has seen from Alexander and McCloud through practices carries over when the structure becomes more game-like.
“It's their job to put on tape and demonstrate, make us play them,” Swinney said. “And demonstrate that they know what they're doing, and they can do it with the type of effort and physicality and technique and fundamentals that wins.”
Clemson has time, but not an unlimited amount of it.
The Tigers open the season Sept. 5 at LSU, a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff in Baton Rouge.
Swinney made clear Tuesday that Clemson isn't ready for that game yet. The Tigers are still installing, evaluating and figuring out which combinations they can trust.
At linebacker, however, the picture is beginning to sharpen.
Brown gives Clemson its proven centerpiece.
And one week into fall camp, Alexander and McCloud are making their case to join him.
