One of Clemson’s young defensive backs who had been making a push for early playing time will now have to turn his attention toward recovery.
Freshman safety Polo Anderson suffered a torn ACL during Friday’s practice, Dabo Swinney confirmed after Clemson completed its scrimmage on Saturday.
“He tore his ACL (Friday),” Swinney said. “I hate that for him. That is part of it. Polo kind of came down on a competitive play and got tangled up there.”
Swinney said the injury was a clean tear, but it still brings Anderson’s first season with the Tigers to an early end.
That is particularly disappointing considering the progress Anderson had made since arriving on campus in January. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound safety showed enough during the spring to put himself on Clemson’s radar for a role in the secondary, and he continued that momentum into fall camp.
“The positive for him is he knows he can do it,” Swinney said. “From where he was in January coming in, he was really going to help us this year, for sure. He was positioned to be a big-time contributor for us.”
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Anderson came to Clemson after a productive career at Dorman High School. The former top-150 prospect earned all-state honors twice and finished his high school career with 265 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, seven sacks, five forced fumbles and four interceptions.
As a senior, Anderson totaled 95 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception that he returned for a touchdown. He was also named the Region 2-AAAAA Defensive Player of the Year and finished as one of five finalists for South Carolina’s Mr. Football award in 2025.
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Dabo Swinney shares Clemson safety tore ACL, likely miss entire 2026 season