Clemson beats out Alabama for Peter Woods, 5-star D-lineman and top 25 recruit
Clemson football has landed its biggest piece yet within a 2023 recruiting class shaping up to be one of the best in the country.
Five-star defensive lineman and No. 23 overall recruit Peter Woods chose the Tigers over Alabama, Florida and Jackson State on Friday night, a commitment that should bump Clemson up to the No. 3 spot in the 247Sports Composite team rankings.
Woods, a rising senior at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama, becomes the top-ranked player among the Tigers’ 2023 pledges and their fourth top 100 recruit.
His commitment marks a major win for first-year defensive line coach and primary recruiter Nick Eason, whose efforts helped Clemson beat out Alabama in what devolved into a head-to-head battle between the College Football Playoff rivals.
First-year defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin also helped recruit Woods, who recorded a career-high 92 total tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 11.0 sacks as a junior as Thompson won its third straight 7A state title.
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds, Woods ranks as the No. 3 defensive lineman in the class of 2023 and projects as a “high-impact starter at the college level,” per 247Sports.
Woods (No. 23) joins five-star quarterback Christopher Vizzina (No. 34), four-star defensive lineman Vic Burley (No. 41) and four-star offensive lineman Harris Sewell (No. 73) as top 100 recruits in Clemson’s 2023 class.
Of Clemson’s 17 class of 2023 commits, 16 rank as four-star recruits or higher.
This story was originally published July 8, 2022 at 7:55 PM.
