Former Alabama linebacker, 5-star recruit transferring to Clemson football team
Clemson has picked up its third transfer portal commitment of the cycle.
Former Alabama linebacker Jeremiah Alexander committed to the Tigers on Wednesday after a visit, he told Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports.
Clemson confirmed Alexander’s signing later on Wednesday afternoon.
The one-time five star recruit visited Clemson on Tuesday and also had interest from Auburn, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Jacksonville State. He’d visited Auburn over the weekend, and Auburn and Clemson were considered his top contenders.
The Tigers were heavily involved with Alexander as a high school recruit in the Class of 2022 before he committed to Alabama. Alexander was also teammates with current Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods at Thompson (Ala.) High School.
Now, the former five-star recruit is joining Clemson after two years in the SEC. He’ll have two years of eligibility remaining with the Tigers.
Clemson will be tasked with unlocking Alexander’s full potential; although he appeared in 24 of 27 possible games while at Alabama, he played almost exclusively special teams for the Crimson Tide and only has eight career tackles in three years.
Alexander’s commitment also gives Clemson and and coach Dabo Swinney an unprecedented third transfer portal commit heading into 2025.
Clemson was the only non-service academy that didn’t sign a transfer for the 2024 season, and the Tigers had only signed two total transfers (both third-string quarterbacks who never started a game) since the portal was created in 2018.
Now, Clemson has signed three for next year: Former FCS Southeast Missouri State WR Tristan Smith, Purdue DE Will Heldt and Alabama LB Alexander.
Where Jeremiah Alexander fits in
Alexander was a big-time high school recruit and ranked as the No. 1 player in the state of Alabama, No. 1 edge rusher and No. 18 overall recruit in the Class of 2022.
Alexander and Woods (a current Clemson junior defensive tackle and a one-time five star recruit himself) were both on Thompson’s 2021 state championship team.
Primarily a defensive end in high school, Alexander swapped positions and played linebacker during his first year at Alabama under then-coach Nick Saban.
He redshirted, appeared in four games and had one tackle in 2022 and had three tackles in 14 games during the 2023 season (playing primarily special teams).
Alexander couldn’t break into the rotation last year either. Playing under a new coach in Kalen DeBoer, Alexander (6-2, 249) worked as an inside linebacker and appeared in 10 games. But he was relegated to primarily special teams again and had just five tackles. Alexander formally entered the transfer portal on Jan. 3.
Clemson’s in the market for depth at both linebacker and defensive end. Senior LB Barrett Carter exhausted his eligibility, leaving senior Wade Woodaz and sophomore Sammy Brown as the primary linebackers but minimal depth behind them.
And defensive end was one of Clemson’s weaker position groups in 2024, outside of star junior defensive end T.J. Parker. The Tigers have already signed Purdue’s Heldt at DE but lost a depth piece when sophomore AJ Hoffler transferred to Georgia Tech.
Clemson football in the transfer portal
Transfers in (3)
- Southeast Missouri State WR Tristan Smith
- Purdue DE Will Heldt
- Alabama LB Jeremiah Alexander
Transfers out (5)
- WR Troy Stellato (Kentucky)
- DB Sherrod Covil Jr. (Virginia Tech)
- WR Noble Johnson (Arizona State)
- DE A.J. Hoffler (Georgia Tech)
- DT Tré Williams (Michigan)
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 11:12 AM.
