When Andy Burburrija joins the Clemson football team this summer, he is expected to quickly make an impact.
Burburija spent his first two seasons playing at the JUCO level, and when he signed with the Tigers in February, he became the first JUCO addition of the Dabo Swinney era.
While defensive coordinator Tom Allen loved his film, he wasn’t convinced Burburija had the size he was looking for. When Allen finally laid eyes on Burburija, his mind was changed.
“When I first watched his film, I was really fired up,” Allen said. “I just wasn’t sure how big he was. He is one I didn’t know a lot about. And when we got him here, it was like, ‘Whoa.’ He is big. He is a big, thick, strong, powerful dude.”
When Burburija finally does start taking part in team activities, Allen expects him to bring a level of physicality that was missing, at times, from the interior of his defensive line a season ago.
“I believe his superpower is just going to be his physical strength and knock back,” Allen added. “He is playing good football now, coming from that level, JUCO. Very excited about getting him here this summer. Wish he was here this spring, but he is not. He will be here in the summer. He is actually here right now with his parents visiting.”
Burburija was a JUCO All-American after an absolutely dominant sophomore season that saw him help lead his team to a national title. The 6-foot-2, 295-pounder was a one-man wrecking crew, finishing with 45 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 11.0 sacks.
In the JUCO national title game, he totaled a career-high eight tackles, 2.5 for loss with two sacks, and that’s the kind of production Allen is looking for from Burburija in 2026.
“What a tough kid, physical,” Allen said. “I think he is going to bring more of that to that room. We know we needed it, and that is what we went for. That is a big part of us going after him. Even after he made a decision to go somewhere else. Big, powerful guy that has great get-off. He fits our system. And once we got to know him, we felt he fit us as a person.”
Photo courtesy of Andy Burburija on Instagram
