After runner-up season, Clemson recruiting goes national
Clemson has always been able to attract top talent under coach Dabo Swinney, but after a run to the national title game last season the rich are getting richer.
The Tigers signed six of the top 100 players in the country in 2016, according to the 247Sports compositing rankings, including No. 2 overall prospect Dexter Lawrence. Clemson’s 2017 class already has commitments from two five-star recruits and six four-star prospects with more than six months to go until Signing Day.
“There’s no doubt the brand gets stronger each and every year with the more success that we have, and we have been able to see that on the recruiting trail,” Clemson ace recruiter Jeff Scott said.
The Tigers, particularly Scott, have had success in Florida for some time, but Clemson’s starting to excel at bringing in top prospects from other parts of the country, as well.
In addition to its typical strong states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, the Tigers signed prospects from Kansas, Texas and Virginia in February.
Thus far for the 2017 class, Clemson has received commitments from players hailing from Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio and New Jersey.
“It is nice that now when you do say, ‘Hey, Clemson is interested in a young man nationally,’ he’s going to say, ‘Oh, Clemson, I’m going to take a look.’ As opposed to the past of, ‘Clemson, where’s that at?’ ” co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “They knew we had a tiger paw, but ‘Where is that at?’ Now they know it’s in South Carolina. They know we play in the ACC, and you have an opportunity to win. It’s nice to have that brand recognition.”
Despite Tennessee being on the rise in the SEC East, the Tigers have two of the top five players from the Volunteer State committed, including five-star receiver Tee Higgins, the No. 1 player in the state.
Clemson also has the top quarterback in the country and the top player in the state of Indiana in the fold in quarterback Hunter Johnson.
“The brand is visible,” Clemson defensive backs coach Mike Reed said. “You go into a high school and not only the athletes, but the students, the faculty at the school, they recognize the brand. It’s one of those situations where the brand is out there and everybody recognizes.”
The Tigers currently have 11 commits for the 2017 class but are far from done. Swinney said interest in Clemson is at an all-time high after five consecutive seasons of 10 or more wins, a perfect regular season and a strong showing in the College Football Playoff.
“The biggest change is just more people want to come see Clemson. It’s just an easier conversation. We’ve always reached out to national guys, but my big thing is if it’s too inconvenient for a guy to come visit us unofficially or come to camp then we’re probably not going to get them for four years,” Swinney said. “We’ve just had a lot more guys that want to come see us, unofficially, come to camp, whatever it may be. With the exposure of our brand we’ve benefited greatly from the last five years.”
Once Swinney secures a visit, he likes Clemson’s chances of the staff securing a commitment.
“We always say if we get them here we’ve got a chance,” he said. “That holds true if it’s a kid from 50 miles or a kid from 500 miles. It’s the same.”
This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 10:16 PM.