Clemson Tigers are Taking 'WWE Tag Team' Approach to Linebacker Rotation

Since Clemson's defensive line is going to be the Avengers, maybe the Tigers' linebackers should go by Midnight Express or Road Warriors.

© Ken Ruinard / Staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

Since Clemson's defensive line is going to take on fictional character personas from the Avengers this fall, maybe the Tigers' linebackers should call themselves Midnight Express or Road Warriors. 

After all, two of the most renowned tag teams in wrestling history could mirror what Clemson's rotation at that position is going to look like in 2022, according to head coach Dabo Swinney, who sees the group constantly tagging each other in and out.

"All of them are going to play," Swinney said. "That's why we didn't even put a depth chart out. I don't know who is going to run out there first. We'll see. We've got a long way to go. I will say this: If those guys stay healthy, they're all going to play. I don't see them standing on the sideline. It'll be a WWE tag team."

Swinney said middle linebackers LaVonta Bentley, Keith Maguire and Jeremiah Trotter Jr., along with star outside linebacker Trenton Simpson, have "unique intangibles" of selflessness and self-awareness. He has so much faith in this group that it doesn't matter to him who starts. 

"They're all the guy. They all can play," Swinney said. "LaVonta Bentley, a redshirt junior, that's a bad dude right there. He is a grown man. Trotter, Maguire, Simpson...you can just throw them up in the air. All of them guys can play." 

With Baylon Spector and James Skalski off to the NFL, Clemson is replacing a ton of knowledge and experience, but the speed and athleticism of this year's linebackers have them looking like the most talented, on paper, of the Swinney era. 

"I just hope they keep getting better," Swinney said. "The competition there, that makes everybody better, for sure."

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