Dabo Swinney, Clemson land third transfer portal player in 2026
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CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney secured his third transfer portal player for the 2026 roster with the addition of Old Dominion safety Jerome Carter III on Jan. 6.
Carter, 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, recorded 75 tackles, six interceptions and two pass breakups in 13 games in 2025. His interception total was tied for second in FBS.
He committed after visiting Clemson on Jan. 5, then confirmed his decision on social media. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Carter, who is from Lake City, Florida, spent two seasons with Old Dominion. He was a three-star recruit out of high school, per 247Sports Composite.
He was rated by 247Sports as the No. 93 safety in the portal, and Carter chose Clemson over Louisville, Georgia Tech and Mississippi State.
He is Clemson’s third portal addition, joining cornerback Elliot Washington II and linebacker Luke Ferrelli.
Where Jerome Carter fits on Clemson football depth chart
Carter will have a chance to be a Day 1 starter for Clemson, which lost both of its starting safeties to the portal. One of them was Ricardo Jones, who was tied for first in the ACC in interceptions.
Carter can replace Jones’ ball-hawking ability and help strengthen Clemson’s back end, which suffered various coverage busts this season. He will vie to be the starter with Ronan Hanafin, Kylon Griffin, Kylen Webb and signee Polo Anderson.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at DCarter@usatodayco.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football adds Jerome Carter, Old Dominion DB from transfer portal
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