Clemson Football Boss Reveals Injury Status of Star Defender After Spring Game
Now that the Clemson Tigers have played their spring game, there will be nothing but talking between now and the fall.
In many ways, Saturday’s game was the final view most will get of any Tigers players in a game or practice situation, so there was a jovial mood throughout the contest.
But not everyone was participating.
Ashton Hampton earned four starts as a freshman cornerback in 2024. He was a big get for the Tigers, and not just because coach Dabo Swinney and his staff lured him straight out of Florida State University High School in Tallahassee, Fla.
He finished the season with 14 games under his belt, giving Clemson 27 tackles (19 solo, eight assists) with a half-tackle for loss. He intercepted two passes, broke up five passes and defended seven. He also scored a touchdown on one of those interceptions.
He’s going to be a key piece for the Clemson defense next season. But he’s going to be on the shelf for a while.
Reporters covering the game, including the Clemson Insider, noted that Hampton was wearing a sling on his right shoulder and didn’t participate. Given that Hampton had a good spring for the Tigers, reporters were eager to find out what happened
Swinney revealed that Hampton recently had surgery on the shoulder and, in Swinney’s words, had some things “cleaned” up.
“Ashton, he kind of re-injured himself,” Swinney said. “We had to kind of get him cleaned up so he will be back, ready to go.”
Back and ready to go presumably means when the Tigers kick off fall workouts. Assuming he’s healed, he’ll be a big part of what Clemson wants to do defensively.
With Hampton’ help, the Tigers went 10-4 overall and lost to Texas in the first round of the expanded 12-team playoff.
Clemson’s biggest offseason addition was defensive coordinator Tom Allen, the respected former Indiana Hoosiers head coach who is joining the program to fix its flagging defense from a season ago.
The Tigers’ biggest strength looks to be Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Cade Klubnik, who had his best season statistically in three years with the Tigers. Klubnik wowed coaches and fans alike with his dual threat ability, as he threw for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns and six interceptions, while he also rushed for 463 yards and seven touchdowns.
