Clemson lands two 2020 commitments for defense

Clemson had a productive day in recruiting Saturday, landing two commitments for the 2020 class.

Class of 2020 linebacker Kevin Swint said earlier this month he planned to commit to Clemson on his junior day visit. He wasn’t kidding. Early Saturday afternoon, Swint (6-3, 200) of Carrollton, Ga., announced his commitment to the Tigers via Twitter.

Later Saturday, defensive tackle Tre’ Williams (6-2, 305) of Washington, DC, announced through a video on Twitter that he had given the Tigers his pledge.

Their commitments give the Tigers seven for the 2020 class.

The Tigers made Swint a priority for this class and showed consistent interest with contact practically on a daily basis. Swint said linebackers coach and defensive coordinator Brent Venables let him know that he was his top target at the position for this class. That impressed him as well as how Venables uses his linebackers.

“They run like a four man front and the D-line takes up most of the gaps,” Swint explained. “You really have one gap. It’s not like a regular 3-4 defense where the defense is all spread out. And coach Venables, what he’s doing right now, he’s taking over the defensive game on the college level. Why wouldn’t you want to go to a team that’s locking people down? They held Alabama to like 15 or 17 points. Why wouldn’t you want to get coached by a guy like him?”

Last season Swint had 120 tackles with six sacks, four forced fumbles and an interception.

Florida and Wisconsin were the other schools high on his list. Some of his other offers were South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and LSU.

Williams is regarded as one of the top defensive tackles in the country for the 2020 class. His offer list also included Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Alabama, Penn State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Michigan.

Ohio State appeared to be an early favorite for Williams, and Georgia also was mentioned prominently with him during the season. But Clemson has been recruiting his school hard and is also involved with teammates WR Rakim Jarrett, CB Luke Hill and LB Mekhail Sherman.

This story was originally published January 26, 2019 at 3:37 PM.