Caden Story has been with the Clemson program a while now. However, he is coming off the best two-game stretch of his college career. In the Charleston Southern game, Story had four total tackles, two for a loss of yardage, and 1.5 sacks. Last week against Virginia Tech, Story had two more total tackles and half a sack that also went for a loss of yardage. Story has impressed Dabo Swinney.
Swinney said as much post-practice on Wednesday evening. He pointed out the two "nice games" Story had in a row. During the Virginia Tech game, Story got 24 snaps, only one off his career-high. His uptick in productivity is a direct result of Darien Mayo kicking inside to defensive tackle, with Vic Burley often nowhere to be found. Clearly, all Story needed was more opportunities to go make plays.
With Story already having career highs in tackles (11), tackles for a loss of yardage (3.5), and sacks (two) over the course of seven games, it has to make us wonder two things about him. One, why has it taken until his fifth year with the program to break out in a big way like this? And two, how much will it cost to keep Tom Allen around for the foreseeable future? He has been so fantastic with this defense.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, speaking post-practice, says veteran DE Caden Story has had two "nice games" in a row vs. Charleston Southern and Virginia Tech. Story played 24 snaps vs. VT (one off season high) and has gotten more opportunity with Darien Mayo moving inside to DT
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) October 28, 2026
Tom Allen is more than willing to adapt on the fly with Clemson's defense
As it is with everything in college football, it all comes back to coaching. Yes, it is important to win in recruitment, but staffs also have to be keen on development. While it took far longer than expected for Story to come to life, he is the latest upperclassman to thrive in Allen's defense. It was during the Cal game that senior linebacker Jeremiah Alexander took flight. He has not looked back ever since.
This just goes to show that Allen continues to look at his defensive personnel the right way. It is not about what a player cannot do, but rather what he can do. With the defensive tackle room needing a lift, Allen opted to move Mayo inside to help provide Amare Adams, Andy Burburija, and Champ Thompson some relief. Together, this unit has improved as the year has gone along amid adversity.
With Mayo kicking inside, it has afforded Story more in-game reps than he could have possibly ever imagined. Simply put, he is getting into the flow of the game and is taking advantage of his expanded role with this team. These are the kind of things coaches love to see. While Chad Morris' struggling offense has been stuck in the mud all season long, Allen's defense continues to adapt and get better.
With the season firmly on the back nine, we have to wonder why development is much easier to have on the defensive side of the ball than over on offense. Yes, Allen has been at Clemson twice as long as Morris in this go-around. However, Allen has been the one to adapt and pivot on the fly, while Morris is still trying to run an offense that worked at Clemson back in 2014. That was 12 years ago...
We should be celebrating guys like Story finally putting it all together, but this offense is so pitiful.
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