Swinney Details Decision to Bring Back Suspended DT Vic Burley

Clemson's defensive tackle room is already hurting due to the injury bug, but there is one player on the way back. Senior Vic Burley was back at practice Monday, after head coach Dabo Swinney suspended him following his late August arrest on public disorderly conduct charges. While he won't play in Saturday's home opener against Georgia Southern, the former five-star could make his season debut the following week against North Carolina. 'He has done everything that we asked him to do,' Clemson's coach said. 'He has handled it the right way.' With Kourtney Kelly still recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the spring and Markus Strong likely done for the season after an injury in the LSU loss, the Tigers are facing some serious depth questions along the interior of the defensive line. The two transfers were expected to play major roles this season, with Swinney saying during his Tuesday press conference that Kelly would have 'probably' won a starting role. With this being his fourth season in the program, Burley was expected to take on a much larger role this season. However, he missed a significant amount of time during fall camp, even before the arrest. Over his first three seasons, Burley is credited with 24 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup, having logged 175 snaps. 'There are consequences for his actions, so he has owned that,' Swinney said. 'He has earned the opportunity to come back.' When Burley does finally make his first appearance of the season, he should provide some valuable depth behind Amare Adams and Andy Burburija, along with Champ Thompson. After Burley was suspended, the staff even moved offensive lineman Dietrick Pennington to defensive tackle, with the fifth-year senior logging six snaps agaist LSU. Clemson returns to action on Saturday at home against Georgia Southern. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the ACC Network will have the telecast. Clemson defensive tackle Vic Burley (45) wraps up Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne (1) during the 2nd quarter Saturday October 11, 2024 at Allegacy Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC. Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider