Clemson could be getting some help back in the secondary just in time for one of its biggest games of the season.
Starting Tiger nickelback Corian Gipson returned to practice this week as the Tigers prepare to host No. 4 Miami on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. Dabo Swinney confirmed the junior is taking part in workouts, although Clemson
is not ready to say he will definitely be available against the Hurricanes.“Yeah,” Swinney said Tuesday when asked whether Gipson was practicing.
Asked if that meant Gipson was cleared to play, Swinney stopped short of making that call.
“We’ll see, but he’s practicing,” Swinney said. “So, we’ll find out today. He practiced last night, so we’ll see.”
Gipson has been dealing with an injury that has kept him from
playing a normal workload for the past two games. Swinney said last week that Gipson had been “banged up” and “really limited throughout the week” before Clemson faced North Carolina on Sept. 19.
The junior tried to play against the Tar Heels but logged only two defensive snaps. He then missed Clemson’s road game at Cal last Friday.
Gipson opened the season as Clemson’s starter at Tiger nickelback and played 54 snaps against LSU before adding 45 against Georgia Southern. He recorded four tackles in the opener and five more the following week.
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His role had grown steadily before the injury. After redshirting in 2024, Gipson appeared in 12 games with three starts in 2025, finishing with 14 tackles and three pass breakups across 189 defensive snaps. He eventually earned the starting nickelback job late in the season.
The former four-star prospect arrived at Clemson as a top-100 recruit from Fort Worth, Texas, after an ACL tear cut short his senior year of high school.
Clemson and Miami are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday on ABC.
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson’s Dabo Swinney shares injury update on starting CB ahead of Miami
