Key piece of Clemson defense announces return for 2025 football season

There's no question that the Clemson football team needs to be better along the defensive line in 2025. Fortunately, this week the program got good news in that regard when starting defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart announced that he has been granted a sixth year of eligibility.

To earn one final season in Clemson, Capehart had to file a waiver with the NCAA so that his 2021 season would not count against his eligibility. That year, he played in five games but saw only 20 snaps as a redshirt freshman.

The NCAA has a rule that players who play in more than four games in a season lose that season as it counts toward their college eligibility. However, because Capehart recorded no stats in his five games in 2021 and because he lost most of that season to a knee injury, the NCAA decided to give him one extra year to play.

There was also some gray area regarding Capehart's situation given that he joined the Tigers in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. The NCAA has since granted players who played during the pandemic an extra year of eligibility and that could have played into Capeheart's favor as well.

This past season, the 6-foot-5, 315-pounder registered 21 tackles (two for loss) in 11 games played. That included five tackles against Texas in the first round of the College Football Playoff in what was arguably his best showing of the season.

He will enter next season as Clemson's most experienced defensive tackle. He's played in 45 games making 51 tackles (11 for loss) and 2.0 sacks.

Though he's never topped the 21 tackles he made in 2024, he could be a nice piece for new defensive coordinator Tom Allen to build around. What's more, he could be a great mentor for incoming 5-star freshman Amare Adams from Florence.

Though Adams is the No. 6 defensive tackle in America according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, he will still need someone to show him the ropes as a collegiate, and Capehart could be that person given his experience in head coach Dabo Swinney's program.

While Capehart hasn't developed into a dominant defensive tackle, having capable players of his size and ability along the defensive line is crucial given the wear and tear that position group endures over the course of the season. It will only help to reinforce a position group that needs to make significant strides next season if the Tigers hope to compete for a National Championship.