Clemson pursuing NCAA eligibility waiver for defensive starter. Here’s what we know
Clemson defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart hasn’t announced his future plans.
That’s because the Tigers have submitted an NCAA waiver for Capehart to get a sixth and final year of eligibility this fall, coach Dabo Swinney said Wednesday.
Speaking at an introductory news conference for new defensive coordinator Tom Allen, Swinney said that Clemson is waiting to hear back on a waiver for Capehart, the last prominent Tigers player who hasn’t made his stay-or-go decision for 2025.
Capehart is currently on campus, enrolled in classes and actively training with the team as part of offseason workouts that started Wednesday, Swinney said.
In other words: Capehart fully intends to return to Clemson for the 2025 season instead of entering this year’s NFL Draft (where he’s drawn some buzz as a late-round prospect because of his play the past two seasons).
That, of course, is contingent on a successful waiver.
“So, we’re hoping for some good news,” Swinney said.
Capehart is a Class of 2020 recruit. Per an NFL memo, that means he is automatically eligible for the NFL Draft right now and doesn’t have to formally declare.
The hard deadline for upperclassmen to “opt out” of draft consideration is Friday, Feb. 7, or less than a month away. Swinney said Clemson could hear back on Capehart’s eligibility case at “any moment.”
“He doesn’t have to declare for the draft, technically, so he’s got til Feb. 6 to not be in it,” Swinney said.
Capehart (6-5, 315) was expected to be a dominant force on the Tigers’ defensive line in 2024. But a nagging ankle injury and subsequent surgery limited his production.
He played in 11 games (six starts) and had a career-high 21 tackles in 2024. But he had just 1.5 tackles for loss and zero sacks across 248 defensive snaps.
Still, the redshirt senior was considered an intriguing later-round pro prospect given his size and Clemson’s reputation for pumping out NFL-ready defensive linemen.
Why does Capehart need a waiver?
A team spokesman told The State that Capehart needs a waiver because the NCAA is currently counting the 2021 season (in which he played 20 defensive snaps over five games) as a year of eligibility. Under that clock, he’d be out of years after 2024.
It’s unclear why exactly the 2021 season counts for Capehart, though. To date, he’s played five seasons with the Tigers (one redshirt year in 2020 and four “regular” seasons, without an injury redshirt involved, from 2021-24).
But as a Class of 2020 recruit, it was assumed that Capehart had an extra “COVID year” of eligibility remaining. Any athlete competing in the 2020-21 season affected by the pandemic received a blanket year of eligibility from the NCAA.
As such, Class of 2020 recruits who redshirted generally have six years to play out their eligibility (four regular years, one redshirt year, one COVID year).
Capehart only played in four games as a true freshman in 2020, per the team website, qualifying him for a redshirt that season.
Two other Clemson players from the same recruiting class as Capehart are playing a sixth year without issue. Safety Tyler Venables is playing his sixth year with the Tigers this fall, and transfer defensive tackle Tré Williams is doing the same at Michigan. Venables and Williams have both played five seasons to date.
Swinney said Clemson is confident about Capehart’s waiver.
“We’re waiting on giving you a final answer,” Swinney said. “He’s training. He’s here. We just talked to him, as a matter of fact. ... Hopefully, we’ll know something soon.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM.
