Clemson DT DeMonte Capehart suspended from team following arrest, gun charge

Clemson has suspended defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart following an arrest on campus earlier this month, per report.

Court records obtained by Jon Blau of the Post and Courier state that Capehart is facing charges related to “carrying or displaying firearms (on) school property,” after he was arrested on Feb. 6. Blau also obtained Clemson’s daily crime log, which reported an arrest made at 8:17 p.m. near Clemson’s soccer stadium for “unlawful possession of a firearm on school property,” as well as, “failure to exercise due care,” while behind the wheel.

The university has since released a statement:

“We have been aware of the facts of the case from the start, and he is not presently participating in team activities while awaiting completion of all legal and university processes.”

Capehart is heading into his senior season and has played his whole career at Clemson to this point. He has 32 career tackles across 34 career games, including 9.0 tackles for loss.

At the end of last season, head coach Dabo Swinney was asked if Clemson could still be in the market for a defensive lineman, specifically in the NCAA transfer portal. He was quick to shoot down the idea, citing multiple different reasons. One of them being that there is not currently anybody out there they would view as an upgrade over current players on the roster despite losing Ruke Orhorhoro and Tyler Davis to the NFL — which could be looked at as high praise for someone like Capehart, a veteran returner who is due for his day in the sun.

“I don’t see a portal situation,” Swinney said. “That was a position we looked at. We evaluate every position on our roster, from a portal standpoint, and that was a position, with the guys that we have in-house, and what we’ve been able to see from those guys — it wasn’t a position where we wanted a portal guy. Because you’ve got a guy like Peter Woods [from the 2024 recruiting class] that can play anywhere. Is there a guy that we think can come in a be better than that? We didn’t feel that. So, we focused on the high school kid.”

It’s unsure when Capehart’s suspension will be finished, or the extent of his punishment for the charge. Regardless, Clemson will kick off its 2024 college football season inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 31 against the Georgia Bulldogs in their own backyard despite being at a neutral site.