EARLY SIGNING DAY NUGGETS
Dabo Swinney just wrapped up his presser. Recapping the most notable items:
**** Two of the Top 10 receivers in the country. Wesco is coming in midyear, so he’ll get a head start. Really excited about the versatility of his game. He and TJ Moore are two ballhawks.
**** OL class just came together and worked out in a great way. Really excited about Ronan O’Connell. Big, barrel-chested kid.
Wanted to try to find another center. Watson Young will be the first fourth-generation Clemson football player. Really cool. He was heading to App, but really glad it worked out for him to join us. A true center. He’s played a lot of tackle but he’ll be a center for us. I’ve known him his entire life. He was born to be a Tiger.
Knocked it out of the park with Mason Wade and Elyjah Thurmon. Needed versatility, and these two bring that. Two dirtbags. Athletic, got good length. Really in a good spot physically. Wade’s mom and uncle went to Clemson. He’s the epitome of football. He has just developed every year. He’s a nice kid, but he’s nasty on the football field.
Best thing about these four OL is they’re all mid-years.
They get most everyone back on the OL except Will Putnam. Seven guys have started a game on the OL.
Said Ryan Linthicum will be the first one running out at center this spring.
**** David Eziomume is a home-run hitter. Perfect for this class.
**** 15 of the 22 are going to be midyears. Several will meet us at the bowl. They changed the rule last year that will allow freshmen to come and take part in the process even if they aren’t playing. Champ Thompson has been here last couple of days. It’s been pretty cool for him to spend some time around Tyler Davis.
**** I feel like Christian Bentancur has been committed for 10 years. Big-time playmaker.
**** Said Adam Kissayi came to Clemson camp for three days and won the staff over. He told Swinney then that he was coming to get a scholarship offer. No idea how big this guy is going to be, but really excited about his potential. He’s a midyear, and he’ll need the head start. Darien Mayo is coming in over the summer.
**** Thompson and Hevin Brown-Shuler are two of my favorite recruits ever. Great guys, great families. Big personalities. So much more than football players.
“Two pretty good names: Hevin and Champ.”
Champ has already started practice. Hevin will get here this summer.
**** At LB they considered taking a portal guy if Barrett Carter left but he stayed so they really wanted to take another high-school kid. CJ Kubah-Taylor has a lot of great days ahead of him. He was really just a perfect fit for us. Came here this past weekend and wanted to be a Tiger. His uncle lives in Greenville and went to Clemson. Neat family.
**** Sammy Brown, we’ve recruited him since before we even knew we were recruiting him. When he was a fifth-grader at camp they made him do up-downs for losing his bookbag. His mother still has the video from that. Super excited to finally get started with him. I think it’s a blessing that Barrett is back and Sammy has someone to mentor with over the next year.
**** On Drew Woodaz: They say he’s the best athlete of all of them. We’ll see when he gets here. Just another great addition to the LB room. Proud of the job Wes Goodwin has done in putting it together the way he wanted to put it together.
**** Tavoy Feagin is a mid-year. His father played for Dabo at Alabama. Great player. Has length, great technique for this stage of his career. A returner. Does a little bit of everything.
**** On Corian Gipson: Easy to see why he was drawn to Clemson. Could have gone anywhere. He did have an injury this year but he’s doing very well. He’ll be coming in midyear. Just a long, competitive, fast athlete on the back end. Can play anywhere in the secondary.
**** Ashton Hampton’s dad is a college head coach. Ashton has been around this his whole life. You can’t have a more prepared guy than Ashton. He can do anything. He his long, like a giant, and can play corner, nickel, strong, free. He’s a freaky type of athlete. Hampton will get here this summer.
It would be hard to find three better CBs that fit what we need.
**** On safeties Noah Dixon, Joe Wilkinson and Ricardo Jones: Dixon is a baller, a track guy, a big and physical kid. Dixon will be a midyear. Wilkinson and Jones will knock your head off. We’ve watched Wilkinson for the last two years and we honestly weren’t sure if we’d take another safety. With someone moving on, they decided to take the best player out there. All you have to do is watch his tape to see why we like him.
**** Nolan Hauser is the best kicker in the country, no doubt about it. Comes from an athletic family. He’s a leader. Obviously we need improvement and competition at this position. He’s a midyear and will be at the bowl game.
**** Said PWO Chase Byrd had some opportunities to play elsewhere but wanted to come here and chase his dream as a receiver.
**** Swinney was asked how much Wesco and Moore can improve a weakness of explosive plays and speed. He took exception to the idea that the Tigers’ receivers aren’t already fast.
"I think we’ve addressed it with the guys here. Top two fastest guys on this team were Nate and Cole Turner."
Antonio Williams played three and a half games. Adam Randall hit a little confidence wall there but now he’s hitting his stride. Adam Randall can run.
Stellato can run. He’s just never been available. Hasn’t had an offseason since he’s been here.
"Cole can fly. Tyler Brown can fly. Ronan Hanafin can fly."
"I think we already have that on the roster."
**** Dabo said they offered four portal guys on the OL.
Couple other guys that we made phone calls to and there was no interest. Couple other guys that weren’t right fits for us.
You have to be an academic fit and be eligible. Nobody wants to talk about that.
We haven’t gotten into a situation yet where we’ve had massive gaps in our roster.
If you bring someone in you have to let someone go.
**** Trent Howard will be back. That’s huge for us. We haven’t lost a game since Trent began starting. That gives us seven starters. Trent can play both guard spots. He’s got really good length.
John Williams is done with football for medical reasons.
They’re at their limit on the OL.
**** Ian Reed won’t be available for the bowl. Dabo would say only that Reed “has been sick.”
“But he’s on the right path.”
He anticipates Reed will be able to practice during the spring. Excited about him. He’s like a bigger Harris Sewell, if you will. Hopefully he can get this under control.
**** Are they done at DE:
I don’t see a portal situation. That was as position we looked at. What we have in-house and what we can see in those guys, didn’t need a portal guy.
Peter Woods can play anywhere. Is there a guy who can be better than that? We don’t feel that. So we focused on high schools for that.
**** On which freshmen who will be in Jacksonville practicing:
Hauser
Gipson
Eziomume
Thompson
Brown
Feagin
Jones
Byrd
**** I asked him if it’s realistic to expect Christopher Vizzina to push Cade Klubnik during spring practice.
“I hope so.”
Said Vizzina is the perfect example of what you can get out of bowl practices.
CV has been awesome. I was anxious to see where he was based on what I saw in August and it was good. Really good. It’s been a fun week or so watching him. You get reminded pretty quick why he was such a high-level recruit. Big, strong, accurate with the ball, can run.
**** The team finished bowl prep yesterday. They’ll resume Christmas Eve in Jacksonville.
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