What will Clemson’s football team look like in 2025? That question should be mostly answered in the coming weeks.

Although spring practice generally prompts another transfer portal decision or two, Clemson is currently in the thick of roster construction and retention after its season ended with a loss at Texas in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Coach Dabo Swinney has raved about the long-term potential of the Tigers’ current roster, which is heavy on underclassmen, and openly volunteered that he expects the vast majority of Clemson’s scholarship players to return.

“We’ve got a lot of guys coming back,” he said after a 38-24 loss at UT on Saturday.

Still, there are a number of intriguing stay-or-go decisions for Clemson players and the possibility of further, unexpected transfer portal departures. Here’s a roundup of where the Tigers currently stand heading into the new year:

Who’s leaving?

Clemson entered the 2024 season with 85 players on scholarship. Based on a review of the roster, there are 12 confirmed departures for 2025 between players who’ve already transferred and players who’ve exhausted their college eligibility:

• WR Troy Stellato (transferred)
• WR Noble Johnson (transferred to Arizona State)
• DB Sherrod Covil Jr. (transferred to Virginia Tech)
• DE A.J. Hoffler (transferred)
• P Aidan Swanson
• QB Paul Tyson
• FS R.J. Mickens
• TE Jake Briningstool
• LB Barrett Carter
• RB Phil Mafah
• DT Payton Page
• OL Marcus Tate

Swanson and Tyson, a transfer, both played six years of college football, utilizing redshirt and COVID years; Mickens played five, using a COVID year; and the other eight players listed played four years from 2021-24 without redshirting.

Those departures will drop Clemson from 85 to 73 scholarship players.

NFL Draft decisions

Alongside seniors who have to leave, Clemson has a few notable starters who must make a decision on whether they’ll enter the 2025 NFL Draft or return:

• Super senior DT DeMonte Capehart (one year of eligibility left)
• Junior OT Blake Miller (one year of eligibility left)
• Redshirt sophomore WR Antonio Williams (two years of eligibility left)

At various points late this year, Capehart, Miller and Williams all said they’d evaluate whether or not to enter the draft once Clemson’s season was over.

Miller has started 41 straight games for Clemson at right tackle and was named first team All-ACC. Williams, also a first team All-ACC pick, led the Tigers with 75 catches for 904 yards and 11 touchdowns this year. Capehart drew draft buzz entering his fifth year, but a mid-year ankle injury limited his playing time and production.

Star junior quarterback Cade Klubnik has not directly confirmed his intention to return to Clemson next year. But Swinney has volunteered multiple times that he expects Klubnik to return for his senior year, so his name isn’t included here.

Per NFL.com, there’s a “soft” early deadline of Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, for underclassman players to declare for the draft. The hard deadline is Jan. 15.

Players such as Capehart, who was a 2020 college signee, are automatically eligible for the draft, per the NFL. If a player in that situation wants to return to college, they must formally opt out of draft consideration by Feb. 7, 2025.

Extra years of eligibility

Along with players facing NFL Draft decisions, Clemson has a handful of veteran players who have a sixth and final year of eligibility left and could use it in 2025:

• Super senior DT Tré Williams
• Super senior OL Trent Howard
• Super senior FS Tyler Venables

All three of those players were in Clemson’s 2020 signing class along with Capehart (whose return is TBD) and OL Walker Parks (who said he’s returning). Everyone in that class has a “COVID year” to use, on top of a redshirt year (if applicable).

Williams was the most impactful of the three, playing a career-high 300 snaps over 14 games (three starts). Howard played in a spot role as a reserve offensive lineman and tore his ACL late in the season. Venables played primarily on special teams.

Between draft and super senior candidates, Clemson has six players whose statuses for 2025 aren’t currently known. Their decisions would put the team at 67 to 73 scholarship returners out of 85, depending on how many move on.

Retaining star players

Swinney has pumped up the NCAA’s new revenue-sharing format and how it’ll positively impact his program when it comes to retaining Clemson’s heir top players.

Schools can share up to $20.5 million directly with athletes starting next summer, and Clemson is committed to sharing the maximum with a large percentage — well over the standard 75%, per multiple reports — being allocated for football.

In other words, Clemson will have at least $15 million (and likely a couple million more) at its disposal for player compensation, a percentage share Swinney said will be among the top in the country. That’s given him confidence the Tigers, who already excel at retention, can retain their top players via financial reward.

Klubnik, freshman wide receivers Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore, defensive linemen Peter Woods and T.J. Parker and freshman linebacker Sammy Brown come to mind as players whose 2024 performances can and should command them a significant portion of “rev share” money, as Swinney likes to call it.

For Clemson, though, that’s just the hope. Plans can change in an instant, and name, image and likeness (NIL) deals can still entice players to look elsewhere.

The NCAA transfer portal window for football players remains open through this Saturday (Dec. 28). Departures in this window, or the April 16-25 spring window, could prompt Clemson to add more players via the portal.

What about incoming recruits?

The NCAA is instituting a football roster cap of 105 players in conjunction with direct payments to players through the landmark House vs. NCAA court settlement.

Within that 105-player limit, conferences set scholarship counts. The ACC hasn’t announced one, but the SEC is moving forward with a 85-player football scholarship count (plus 20 walk-ons) and most power conferences seem to be leaning that way.

There were 51 walk-on players on Clemson’s 2024 football roster, and the program will cut over half of them from the team by the 2025 season to comply.

As of Friday, Clemson could have anywhere from 67 to 73 scholarship returners for 2025. Again, that number could fluctuate with further portal departures.

The Tigers are also bringing in 15 high school recruits and two transfer portal signees, former Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Tristan Smith and Purdue defensive end Will Heldt. All of those players signed earlier this month.

If every player with eligibility left comes back, Clemson would be at 90 scholarship players (five over the limit) between returners and 17 newcomers.

But that’s a very unlikely scenario.

Factoring in lingering NFL Draft and super senior decisions; losing more players to the transfer portal; and the option of Clemson reverting two current scholarship players, DE Armon Mason and OL Chapman Pendergrass, back to their previous walk-on status (something Swinney’s floated in past years); the Tigers are more likely to enter 2025 spring practice one to three scholarships over the limit.

From there, further transfer portal departures and/or acquisitions during the spring portal cycle would be the last round of roster tweaks heading into the 2025 season.