Veteran Tiger defender sees spring positives, 'but we got to keep going'

Khalil Barnes has developed an increased leadership role this spring and will continue to have that throughout the summer and the fall.

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Tuesday, April 08 2025

CLEMSON - Junior safety Khalil Barnes is always around the ball. He had three interceptions during his freshman year and another four during his sophomore season, and he recorded one in the spring game this past Saturday.

In his freshman season, Barnes became an All-American after he became the first Clemson player in the Dabo Swinney era to record multiple forced fumbles (three) and multiple interceptions (three) in his freshman season. Barnes also registered six pass breakups as a freshman and another three in his sophomore campaign.

Given his performance in his first two seasons and Clemson’s young secondary, Barnes has developed an increased leadership role this spring and will continue to have that throughout the summer and the fall.

“Me and (redshirt junior safety Kylon Griffin) are kind of like the older people (in) the room. So, just growing from freshman year. I didn’t have the same thing, last year I kind of had to do it when I needed to,” Barnes said. “This year, Coach Swinney (and) all the coaches, they stress that I have to be that focus for the guys that they need to lead the team.”

Last season, Clemson’s defense struggled against the run, but they also gave up an average of over 210 passing yards per game, which is drastically different from Penn State’s defense last season when Tom Allen was their defensive coordinator. Now that Allen is the defensive coordinator for the Tigers, Barnes said he has brought a new level of focus to Clemson’s defense.

“I think (he has) brought a new level of focus. It’s not so much he’s stressing you on what to do, all this stuff. He’s been telling us everything before practice. He knows we’re going to make mistakes, but mistakes will (be eliminated). You play fast, you play hard,” Barnes said. “We (talk) about tackling every single (day), just putting the focus on everything and just kind of honing in instead of what to do, just how to tackle.”

Clemson’s spring game this past Saturday provided fans with their first opportunity to see what the Tiger defense looks like with Allen calling the plays and it was impressive. While the offense won on the scoreboard, the defense did a good job in the red zone by holding the offense mostly to field goals instead of touchdowns. They also generated multiple turnovers and multiple sacks.

“I think everybody played fast, and it’s good that we still had lots of success with a limited call sheet,” Barnes said. “So, it’s a good step but we got to keep going.”