Clemson EDGE Greg Williams steps away from team

Clemson EDGE Greg Williams, who was on scholarship, opted to step away from the program last month, On3’s Matt Connolly confirmed Monday.

Williams played 168 snaps in 19 games over four years with the team. He earned his degree in criminal justice in December 2022 and was going to be a fifth-year player for this upcoming season.

He was the No. 536 overall recruit and No. 46 EDGE in the 2019 On3 Industry Ranking out of Swansea (S.C.). The On3 Industry is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four major recruiting media services. The On3 Industry Ranking is the most advanced, complete and unbiased rating and ranking measurement in the industry.

Eleven players have left the Tigers program this offseason via the transfer portal. That group is headlined former five-star recruit and starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who is now playing for Oregon State. Other departures include cornerback Fred Davis II, wide receiver E.J. Williams, wide receiver Dacari Collins and linebacker Sergio Allen.

Uiagalelei explained in an interview with The Athletic his reason for leaving the program to return to the West Coast that part of the reason was that he wanted to play in a different offense.

“I didn’t want to do what I was doing at Clemson. I didn’t really like what we did there scheme-wise,” Uiagalelei said. “It was very basic. It didn’t help me out as a quarterback and play to my strengths. I wanted to go somewhere that would play to my strengths and go somewhere that would develop me for the NFL. Play-action, work under center, throwing the ball deep.”

The Tigers have only one transfer in from the portal in former Arizona State quarterback Paul Tyson. Tyson, who also played for Alabama and is the great-grandson of legendary Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, was brought in to be a veteran backup in the Clemson quarterback room.

The team did the same thing last offseason with Hunter Johnson, who started his career with Clemson before transferring to Northwestern.

“We’re honest. We’re transparent. I wasn’t looking for a guy to come in here and be the starter. We think we have that,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said in December. “But we needed an older guy, who has been through a lot of game plans, a lot of practices. Somebody who’s got a level of maturity to him. A Hunter Johnson situation — that’s what we needed.”