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LATE-WEEK CLEMSON FOOTBALL & RECRUITING INSIDER
By: Paul Strelow
We need to talk.
You've got questions, we've got answers or opinions.
In this popular feature, Tigerillustrated.com digs into recruiting- and team-related topics broached by our subscribers.
Off we go ...
NorthStateTiger: Now that the Vols are back, how does that reshuffle the regional recruiting landscape?
PAUL: Just to clarify, you're not claiming Tennessee is back the same way folks have said Miami or Notre Dame is back when those programs have periodically seized a name victory, right?
I'm not, but just checking.
Here's believing Tennessee should be a perennial top-15 team under Josh Heupel, one of the select few -- see Lincoln Riley, Lane Kiffin -- who have that Steve Spurrier-esque knack for offensive play-calling and scheming. Add that to the fact they've created an identity as being a high-paying NIL employer, and the ingredients are there for staying power.
Not sure there's a firm answer for how that tweaks the grand recruiting picture.
You could argue one thing that aided Clemson's ascension through the mid-2010s was the demise of Florida, Florida State, Tennessee and even Auburn and Virginia Tech as regional stalwarts. Of course, the case can conversely be made that Clemson had a hand in their mediocrity. Definitely some of both.
Clemson tight end Jake Briningstool has 15 receptions and four touchdowns this season. (Tigerillustrated.com)
So just the notion that there's another attractive national-caliber team to consider outside of Alabama, UGA and Clemson increases the competition for those at the top of the food chain.
That's one more team for the Tigers to have to beat, and maybe that means one less Jake Briningstool here or there.
Of course, Clemson is going to appeal to specific types on its culture and personality, and Dabo Swinney will still get his. But the simple math is that it's easier to pull rank when there are fewer at your level. One more team in the conversation for the pick of the litter at quarterback.
The Mazeo Bennett recruitment might suggest that Tennessee's rise presents greater issue for South Carolina, as those schools tended to recruit from roughly the same pool. I do think it could be an issue for UNC here in Mack Brown's twilight, and for Auburn's imminent next coach too.
It will be interesting to see if they pry into further contention for several mutually targeted juniors, namely Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview five-star athlete Mike Matthews, Jefferson (Ga.) four-star linebacker Sammy Brown, Philadelphia (Penn.) St. Joseph's four-star corner Omillio Agard and Burlington (N.C.) Cummings four-star receiver Jonathan Paylor.
BarnwellTiger: With Barnwell having one of the state's top running backs, Tyler Smith, and Woodland with junior four-star offensive line offer Kam Pringle and the other skilled player (Suderian Harrison), do you see Clemson sending someone to check out these players?
PAUL: Offensive line coach Thomas Austin is expected to be on hand to see -- and maybe more importantly, be seen by -- Pringle.
Most of scouting comes via film. Now, if one of those players blows Austin away, I'm sure he would report back to the staff about it. Or perhaps he goes in with the plan to report back on what he observed.
But make no mistake, this next eval stop is about Pringle.
housess1: Can you please go into some detail about running back recruiting? After the failures with Tavien Feaster and Mikey Dukes and the success of Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah, is Clemson being highly selective for specific traits? Has the addition of former walk-on Domonique Thomas and development of Keith Adams Jr. reduced the urgency of landing a running back this cycle? Speaking of Adams, will we see a debut against Louisville? As Tigerillustrated.com indicated, running backs have popped up and some teams have lost their luster. With the shine back to playoff contender, does Clemson have more muscle to flex in recruiting (the sell must be easier with depth of the corps)?
PAUL: I think ... you're overthinking it.
Past individual hits, misses or in-betweens aren't influencing Clemson's present evaluations or approach.
The presence of a viable walk-on in Thomas isn't impacting their strategy this cycle, nor does it have anything to do with Adams.
For what it's worth, Adams debuted briefly late in the Louisiana Tech rout. He is behind Thomas on the depth chart.
You won't, and shouldn't, see either during competitive game action unless injuries force Clemson to go that far down the ladder. And then Thomas would be the guy, not Adams.
C.J. Spiller's selectivity is rooted in Swinney's philosophy and conditioned by predecessor Tony Elliott's deliberate manner.
Douglasville (Ga.) running back and Clemson offer Jamarion Wilcox. (Tigerillustrated.com)
He is looking for what he finds to be elite. He'll court that one or two. If he doesn't get him, then on to the search for another whom he loves, not just likes.
They lost their two main battles last cycle in Trevor Etienne and Andrew Paul. We can reasonably argue, as occurred at the time, that Clemson's braintrust should have moved off Etienne earlier and pressed for Paul sooner. We can also allow that strange circumstances came together for the Tigers to lose each. A running back room shouldn't be broken by one cycle.
This cycle, I think we can fairly suggest they weren't going to win either of the first two targets deemed of talent standard in Justice Haynes and Richard Young. Next up was Jeremiah Cobb, and the Tigers finished runner-up to Auburn on longer-standing relationships and proximity. Christopher Johnson was always going to be a tough pull out of Miami, and the fact Ole Miss quickly slid into second before visiting there tells you that accounted for another recruitment Clemson doesn't tend to win.
And so the spotlight has shifted to Douglasville (Ga.) South Paulding high-three star Jamarion Wilcox.
Wilcox is no gimme, either; he took an official visit to Kentucky last weekend, and while Clemson traditionally would beat the Wildcats in a recruiting walkover, we do believe Kentucky has a voice around him in its favor.
Thus they continue to chip away there while keeping an eye open for any other candidates who qualify for their standard.
jparker3791: Do we have any punters or kickers on your radar and any forecast for the immediate future on that front?
PAUL: Punter, no. Clemson just brought in one on scholarship in Jack Smith.
Kicker, yes.
We have circled Cornelius (N.C.) Hough junior Nolan Hauser as the name to know for the 2024 class.
Both his parents went to Clemson, and his sister is on the Tigers' soccer team.
Hauser has offers from UNC and Maryland, while Ohio State and Notre Dame are involved as well.
He performed well at the Swinney Camp, and the Tigers brought him in for the N.C. State game.
Tiger Guru: Who's the best receiver prospect this year in the state of South Carolina?
PAUL: Good question, and it's probably a matter of taste.
Greenville (S.C.)'s Tyler Brown is on the tongue upon decommitting from Minnesota once Virginia Tech came hot and heavy. Not the biggest kid, but there are a lot of college coaches as well as high school contacts who consider him the superior player to his teammate, four-star junior Tennessee commitment Mazeo Bennett.
I'm somewhat partial to Rock Hill (S.C.) Northwestern's Elijah Caldwell, a West Virginia commitment. He's a little taller, a little thicker, and he caught my eye at the Dabo Swinney Camp last summer as someone who warranted more attention from the mid-tier ACC programs.
But Brown is shiftier and appears a better quick-twich athlete. There are distinct receiver roles in which he can thrive, and I think there's some toughness to him that differentiates him as well.
TigertheTodd: Do you think Swinney standing behind Uiagalelei last season and DJ seemingly redeeming himself plays to potential recruits? Not giving up on a player you recruited has to mean something.
PAUL: I doubt it really crosses the minds of any prospects, and I doubt any prospect parents or ancillary parties paid particularly close attention to the way or degree Swinney defended him.
Five-star QB and Clemson offer Jadyn Davis has visited Clemson's campus multiple times this year, including earlier this fall.
To me, the only prospect with whom that might really resonate is Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day junior five-star quarterback offer Jadyn Davis.
Davis and his family connected with Uiagalelei a couple of years ago and have a friendship. So, considering they live in this market, they will have been in tune with the tone of Uiagalelei coverage as well as aware of how Swinney stood up for him. Uiagalelei would presumably attest to it, in fact.
Uiagalelei's is a redemptive tale that, if I'm Swinney, surely gets incorporated into recruiting sermons about Clemson's culture of nurturing, development and holistic understanding.
So are prospects watching Clemson on TV and identifying Swinney's support as transformative? Probably not.
But the more media coverage it gets, and if those dots are connected for them, then that image will be planted as evidence for Clemson being what they say it is.
FINAL DAY OF OUR STOREWIDE FLASH SALE: Over 3,500 officially-licensed CLEMSON apparel items ON SALE (some 65% OFF) at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE!
LATE-WEEK CLEMSON FOOTBALL & RECRUITING INSIDER
By: Paul Strelow
We need to talk.
You've got questions, we've got answers or opinions.
In this popular feature, Tigerillustrated.com digs into recruiting- and team-related topics broached by our subscribers.
Off we go ...
NorthStateTiger: Now that the Vols are back, how does that reshuffle the regional recruiting landscape?
PAUL: Just to clarify, you're not claiming Tennessee is back the same way folks have said Miami or Notre Dame is back when those programs have periodically seized a name victory, right?
I'm not, but just checking.
Here's believing Tennessee should be a perennial top-15 team under Josh Heupel, one of the select few -- see Lincoln Riley, Lane Kiffin -- who have that Steve Spurrier-esque knack for offensive play-calling and scheming. Add that to the fact they've created an identity as being a high-paying NIL employer, and the ingredients are there for staying power.
Not sure there's a firm answer for how that tweaks the grand recruiting picture.
You could argue one thing that aided Clemson's ascension through the mid-2010s was the demise of Florida, Florida State, Tennessee and even Auburn and Virginia Tech as regional stalwarts. Of course, the case can conversely be made that Clemson had a hand in their mediocrity. Definitely some of both.
Clemson tight end Jake Briningstool has 15 receptions and four touchdowns this season. (Tigerillustrated.com)
So just the notion that there's another attractive national-caliber team to consider outside of Alabama, UGA and Clemson increases the competition for those at the top of the food chain.
That's one more team for the Tigers to have to beat, and maybe that means one less Jake Briningstool here or there.
Of course, Clemson is going to appeal to specific types on its culture and personality, and Dabo Swinney will still get his. But the simple math is that it's easier to pull rank when there are fewer at your level. One more team in the conversation for the pick of the litter at quarterback.
The Mazeo Bennett recruitment might suggest that Tennessee's rise presents greater issue for South Carolina, as those schools tended to recruit from roughly the same pool. I do think it could be an issue for UNC here in Mack Brown's twilight, and for Auburn's imminent next coach too.
It will be interesting to see if they pry into further contention for several mutually targeted juniors, namely Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview five-star athlete Mike Matthews, Jefferson (Ga.) four-star linebacker Sammy Brown, Philadelphia (Penn.) St. Joseph's four-star corner Omillio Agard and Burlington (N.C.) Cummings four-star receiver Jonathan Paylor.
BarnwellTiger: With Barnwell having one of the state's top running backs, Tyler Smith, and Woodland with junior four-star offensive line offer Kam Pringle and the other skilled player (Suderian Harrison), do you see Clemson sending someone to check out these players?
PAUL: Offensive line coach Thomas Austin is expected to be on hand to see -- and maybe more importantly, be seen by -- Pringle.
Most of scouting comes via film. Now, if one of those players blows Austin away, I'm sure he would report back to the staff about it. Or perhaps he goes in with the plan to report back on what he observed.
But make no mistake, this next eval stop is about Pringle.
housess1: Can you please go into some detail about running back recruiting? After the failures with Tavien Feaster and Mikey Dukes and the success of Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah, is Clemson being highly selective for specific traits? Has the addition of former walk-on Domonique Thomas and development of Keith Adams Jr. reduced the urgency of landing a running back this cycle? Speaking of Adams, will we see a debut against Louisville? As Tigerillustrated.com indicated, running backs have popped up and some teams have lost their luster. With the shine back to playoff contender, does Clemson have more muscle to flex in recruiting (the sell must be easier with depth of the corps)?
PAUL: I think ... you're overthinking it.
Past individual hits, misses or in-betweens aren't influencing Clemson's present evaluations or approach.
The presence of a viable walk-on in Thomas isn't impacting their strategy this cycle, nor does it have anything to do with Adams.
For what it's worth, Adams debuted briefly late in the Louisiana Tech rout. He is behind Thomas on the depth chart.
You won't, and shouldn't, see either during competitive game action unless injuries force Clemson to go that far down the ladder. And then Thomas would be the guy, not Adams.
C.J. Spiller's selectivity is rooted in Swinney's philosophy and conditioned by predecessor Tony Elliott's deliberate manner.
Douglasville (Ga.) running back and Clemson offer Jamarion Wilcox. (Tigerillustrated.com)
He is looking for what he finds to be elite. He'll court that one or two. If he doesn't get him, then on to the search for another whom he loves, not just likes.
They lost their two main battles last cycle in Trevor Etienne and Andrew Paul. We can reasonably argue, as occurred at the time, that Clemson's braintrust should have moved off Etienne earlier and pressed for Paul sooner. We can also allow that strange circumstances came together for the Tigers to lose each. A running back room shouldn't be broken by one cycle.
This cycle, I think we can fairly suggest they weren't going to win either of the first two targets deemed of talent standard in Justice Haynes and Richard Young. Next up was Jeremiah Cobb, and the Tigers finished runner-up to Auburn on longer-standing relationships and proximity. Christopher Johnson was always going to be a tough pull out of Miami, and the fact Ole Miss quickly slid into second before visiting there tells you that accounted for another recruitment Clemson doesn't tend to win.
And so the spotlight has shifted to Douglasville (Ga.) South Paulding high-three star Jamarion Wilcox.
Wilcox is no gimme, either; he took an official visit to Kentucky last weekend, and while Clemson traditionally would beat the Wildcats in a recruiting walkover, we do believe Kentucky has a voice around him in its favor.
Thus they continue to chip away there while keeping an eye open for any other candidates who qualify for their standard.
jparker3791: Do we have any punters or kickers on your radar and any forecast for the immediate future on that front?
PAUL: Punter, no. Clemson just brought in one on scholarship in Jack Smith.
Kicker, yes.
We have circled Cornelius (N.C.) Hough junior Nolan Hauser as the name to know for the 2024 class.
Both his parents went to Clemson, and his sister is on the Tigers' soccer team.
Hauser has offers from UNC and Maryland, while Ohio State and Notre Dame are involved as well.
He performed well at the Swinney Camp, and the Tigers brought him in for the N.C. State game.
Tiger Guru: Who's the best receiver prospect this year in the state of South Carolina?
PAUL: Good question, and it's probably a matter of taste.
Greenville (S.C.)'s Tyler Brown is on the tongue upon decommitting from Minnesota once Virginia Tech came hot and heavy. Not the biggest kid, but there are a lot of college coaches as well as high school contacts who consider him the superior player to his teammate, four-star junior Tennessee commitment Mazeo Bennett.
I'm somewhat partial to Rock Hill (S.C.) Northwestern's Elijah Caldwell, a West Virginia commitment. He's a little taller, a little thicker, and he caught my eye at the Dabo Swinney Camp last summer as someone who warranted more attention from the mid-tier ACC programs.
But Brown is shiftier and appears a better quick-twich athlete. There are distinct receiver roles in which he can thrive, and I think there's some toughness to him that differentiates him as well.
TigertheTodd: Do you think Swinney standing behind Uiagalelei last season and DJ seemingly redeeming himself plays to potential recruits? Not giving up on a player you recruited has to mean something.
PAUL: I doubt it really crosses the minds of any prospects, and I doubt any prospect parents or ancillary parties paid particularly close attention to the way or degree Swinney defended him.
Five-star QB and Clemson offer Jadyn Davis has visited Clemson's campus multiple times this year, including earlier this fall.
To me, the only prospect with whom that might really resonate is Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day junior five-star quarterback offer Jadyn Davis.
Davis and his family connected with Uiagalelei a couple of years ago and have a friendship. So, considering they live in this market, they will have been in tune with the tone of Uiagalelei coverage as well as aware of how Swinney stood up for him. Uiagalelei would presumably attest to it, in fact.
Uiagalelei's is a redemptive tale that, if I'm Swinney, surely gets incorporated into recruiting sermons about Clemson's culture of nurturing, development and holistic understanding.
So are prospects watching Clemson on TV and identifying Swinney's support as transformative? Probably not.
But the more media coverage it gets, and if those dots are connected for them, then that image will be planted as evidence for Clemson being what they say it is.
FINAL DAY OF OUR STOREWIDE FLASH SALE: Over 3,500 officially-licensed CLEMSON apparel items ON SALE (some 65% OFF) at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE!
