Clemson linebacker moving on from football

Clemson reserve linebacker Keith Maguire is expected to move on from football after spending four seasons with the Tigers.

Maguire posted on Instagram Monday night: “Been one hell of a ride. Thank you Clemson for the time of my life.”

A source told Clemson Sports that Maguire had been planning to move on from football. He is not currently in the transfer portal.

The redshirt junior appeared in all 14 games for the Tigers this season, playing critical snaps off the bench.

He finished ninth on the team with 38 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss. He had one tackle in Friday’s Orange Bowl loss to Tennessee.

Maguire signed with Clemson as a three-star prospect in the class of 2019. He redshirted that season, before contributing as a reserve in 20220, 2021 and 2022.

In addition to Maguire, Clemson is also losing junior linebacker Trenton Simpson to the NFL.

However, the Tigers return starting linebackers Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Barrett Carter for the 2023 season. Those two should be two of the best linebackers in the ACC in 2023.

Clemson finished the 2022 season 11-3 (8-0) and now heads into another important offseason as the Tigers work to get back to being national title contenders.

Clemson went 10-3 in 2021, meaning that the Tigers suffered six losses the past two seasons.

In the previous six seasons prior to this two-year stretch, Clemson lost seven games total.

Even Clemson’s most recent College Football Playoff appearance in 2020 ended poorly with the Tigers losing 49-28 to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.

Most teams in college football would still trade places with Clemson in a heartbeat, but the Tigers haven’t been truly elite each of the past two seasons.

Does that mean the Clemson program is slipping? Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney was asked what he would say to people who believe it is following Friday’s Orange Bowl loss.

“I don’t really know what to say to them. We’re 11-3. Sure, I wish we were undefeated, but we’ve won the league seven out of the last eight years. I think that’s only happened one other time, and that was in the ’70s by Alabama,” Swinney said.

“We’ve been pretty consistent, and we’re going to continue to be consistent and keep trying to do everything we can to be undefeated around here. Nobody out there has higher expectations than what we have. I promise you that. We’ll keep battling. We’ll keep working. There’s a lot of great days ahead. A lot of great days ahead. People say what they want to say. Always have, always will. We’re just going to keep doing what we do.”