Former Clemson football quarterback set to rejoin Tigers’ coaching staff
A former Clemson quarterback is returning to the program.
Former Tigers quarterback Hunter Helms is ending his playing career and plans to rejoin Clemson’s staff in a volunteer/intern coaching role starting with the 2025 season, he and his father, Todd, confirmed to The State on Monday.
Hunter Helms said he’ll start working with Clemson at some point this summer and he’s ready to get his foot in the door as a football coach after years of playing.
“We’re excited,” Todd Helms said. “It’s a new chapter and a new phase.”
Helms, 24, played at Clemson from 2020-23 before transferring to Rhode Island, where he started five games during the 2024 season. He had initially entered the transfer portal with intent to play a sixth and final year of college football.
Helms received scholarship offers from FCS schools including Murray State, Tennessee Tech, Gardner-Webb and Elon, his father said. Oklahoma (where former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables is the head coach) also spoke with Helms about bringing him on in a student-coach role for 2025.
But Helms has decided to get a head start on his coaching career at his college alma mater and a place that has always felt like “home” for him, Todd Helms said.
His Clemson role will be similar to that of Ben Boulware, who worked with the team last year as an unpaid coaching intern. Heading into 2025, Boulware is now on staff as an analyst, earns a full-time salary and works as a linebackers coach/recruiter.
Helms had a strong relationship with Clemson coach Dabo Swinney during his four-year Tigers career, and Todd Helms said his son called Swinney earlier this year about a coaching role as he was weighing various offers to play his final year.
With the Tigers, Helms is expected to work under offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and former Clemson QB Tajh Boyd, specifically with the offense and quarterbacks. Boyd is the team’s assistant quarterbacks coach.
“Dabo said, ‘I have a spot on my staff for you,’” Todd Helms said. “He offered Hunter a chance to get in here, get his foot in the door and move up and develop.”
Before starting his coaching career with Clemson and Swinney, Helms will spend the spring semester working with the quarterbacks at his alma mater, Gray Collegiate Academy in West Columbia, during the team’s spring practices and workouts.
Helms plans to move to Clemson later in the year and start working with the football program this summer, potentially starting with the team’s high school camps in June.
Recapping Hunter Helms’ career
Helms, a three-star recruit, initially walked on at Clemson in 2020 over various FBS and FCS offers but quickly earned a scholarship during his time with the Tigers.
He appeared in nine games over four years, backing up the likes of Trevor Lawrence, DJ Uiagalelei and current Tiger starting quarterback Cade Klubnik, and Swinney often referred to Helms as one of the best backup QBs in the country.
During his lone season at URI, Helms appeared in nine games, starting five, and had 1,270 passing yards. Rhode Island won 11 games for the first time in school history and advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Helms entered the transfer portal last December for a second time. He had one season of eligibility remaining for the 2025 season since he redshirted at Clemson and also received a “COVID year” for competing during the 2020 season.
While Helms had over 20 scholarship offers coming out of the portal in 2023, including a number of FBS Group of Five schools, Todd Helms said his son’s options were primarily FCS schools this time around after one year at Rhode Island.
“He said, ‘I’m if not 100% comfortable, I’m ready to do something else,’” Todd Helms said. “He’d been playing football since he was 6 ... I think he was at peace with it.”
At Clemson, Helms will now get a chance to learn under Swinney, Riley and Boyd and work with Klubnik and the rest of the team’s quarterbacks. Helms was Klubnik’s top backup during the 2023 season, and they remain close friends.
Klubnik had 43 combined passing and rushing touchdowns last year and is the most prominent returner on a Clemson team expected to rank among the preseason top 10 nationally. The Tigers start spring practice on Friday.
Todd Helms said his son thought about playing a final year at the FCS level but the “lure” of coming back to his alma mater and coaching under Swinney won out.
“Clemson is home for him,” Todd Helms said.
This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 4:28 PM.
