Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney had a lot to say about one of the team's transfer additions.
The Clemson Tigers topped the California Golden Bears in a dominant defensive effort last Friday, coming away with a 24-10 victory on the road.
It was Clemson's most impressive win of the season given the circumstances, and dating back to Week 3 against North Carolina, the Tigers' defense has not surrendered a touchdown for six straight quarters (California's one touchdown was a fumble recovery).
While there is plenty of credit to go around for Clemson's defense, head coach Dabo Swinney has zeroed in on one of the team's transfer additions: former Colorado Buffaloes edge rusher London Merritt.
The Tigers acquired Merritt over the winter, hoping he would bolster a front seven that lost a bunch of key pieces last offseason.
While Merritt may not be a household name, he definitely emerged as a big-time threat at Cal, finishing with five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
Afterward, Swinney had a lot of good things to say about the sophomore.
“Relentless effort. Disruptive,” Swinney said. “We sacked the quarterback a couple of times, but we really affected him. It was probably our best game as far as really affecting the quarterback from a rush standpoint, and London was a big part of that. Made a big extra-effort play where we missed a couple of tackles and he got him downfield.”
Merritt has logged nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and three passes defended on the 2026 campaign as a whole, displaying tremendous versatility for a 6-foot-3, 255-pound pass rusher.
The former four-star recruit arrived at Colorado in 2025 but did not make a major impact during his debut season with the Buffaloes, finishing with 25 tackles, eight tackles for loss and a sack.
But clearly, Swinney saw something in Merritt, who is playing along a defensive line that also includes names like Will Heldt and Jaheim Lawson.
Swinney added that Merritt is continuing to get better and that his performance against the Golden Bears was "for sure" his best game of the campaign to date.
Clemson watched key players like T.J. Parker, Wade Woodaz, Peter Woods and DeMonte Capehart all depart its defensive front last year, so the Tigers certainly need some new players to step up.
While Heldt is establishing himself as a first-round talent, Merritt is slowly but surely beginning to scratch the surface of his tremendous potential.
We'll see if Merritt can end up developing into one of the Tigers' best all-around defenders moving forward.
Clemson will face the Miami Hurricanes at Memorial Stadium this Saturday. Needless to say, the Tigers will definitely need Merritt and the rest of the defense to be on top of their game for this one, as Miami boasts the top-ranked offense in the country.
