Dabo Swinney addresses 'disappointing situation' that led to TJ Dudley being dismissed from team

Clemson lost one of its top reserve linebackers last week as redshirt freshman TJ Dudley was dismissed from the team.

The Tigers have three excellent linebackers in Barrett Carter, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Wade Woodaz, but there isn’t much experience after those three.

TJ Dudley would have at minimum provided much-needed depth for Clemson, but he was dismissed from the program for violating team rules. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney spoke at the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff event on Thursday about Dudley being dismissed from the program.

“It’s a disappointing situation, because he’s a good kid and a man. He had a chance to be a great player for us this year,” Swinney said. “So that definitely hurts us. It’s unfortunate. But we’ve got rules, and sometimes it’s just best to get a fresh start. So wish him well.”

Dudley appeared in four games last season, playing 16 defensive snaps. He made a pair of tackles, with one coming in the ACC Championship game against North Carolina and another in the Orange Bowl against Tennessee.

The Alabama native signed with Clemson as a four-star recruit and the No. 293 overall player in the country for the class of 2022, according to the On3 Industry rankings.

In addition to Dudley, Clemson also lost linebackers Trenton Simpson, Keith Maguire, LaVonta Bentley and Sergio Allen off of last year’s team. Swinney spoke this spring about the progress Dudley was making.

“I’m pleased with Dudley,” Swinney said. “Dudley’s a guy that came in with that [2022] group that’s starting to show a little maturity. I thought he was a little silly and a little immature when he came in here. But he’s really come on. He’s had a great spring.”

Dabo Swinney details what role Chad Morris will have on Clemson staff

In addition to speaking about TJ Dudley, Dabo Swinney also discussed a number of other topics at the ACC Kickoff event. One of those was Chad Morris rejoining the Tigers staff.

The former Clemson offensive coordinator and Arkansas head coach will be working with the Tigers in a special assistant/consulting role this fall.

Morris’ background is offense, but he will be working with both sides of the ball while at Clemson.

“It’s kind of like what we did with Ted Roof a couple of years ago. I mean he’s going to go watch Chandler [Morris] play. But he still wants to be involved,” Swinney said. “He can bring a lot of value. He’s going to be like a special assistant with football. He’s actually going to work with the defense and the offense. He’s going to just stay a week ahead and really just add a lot of value from another lens. This guy’s been a really, really good offensive coordinator. He’s been a head coach. So just got a lot of experience.”