Clemson has never been a school to back down from a challenge. Arguably their last four campaigns have garnered double digit wins and a 2011 ACC Championship. They have competed in the backyard of the SEC and now in 2015 their recruiting has vaulted them into national prominence once again. Coach Dabo Swinney considers this his best class ever and with good reason.
Swinney has established an “all in” mentality that has really excited the Orange Paw society. Most sporting sites have Clemson as low as eighth and Rivals.com listed the Tigers as the fourth best recruiting school for this National Signing Day. Actually, the ACC finished third and fourth with Florida State edging Clemson by one spot to keep a compelling non-traditional rivalry going strong.
The fact that Clemson is becoming known as a receivers university probably opened the door to five-star wideout Deon Cain. Also from Tampa is athlete Ray Ray McCloud III who is expected to make an instant impact. The Tampa, FL natives are another scoop for the Tigers in the hotbed of Tampa / Orlando high school players.
Perhaps the biggest pick up for the Tigers was Connecticut defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. Wilkins is ranked as the 24th best player nationally in this year’s crop and will be a welcome addition with the departure of All-American Vic Beasley and defensive lineman Grady Jarrett. If there were any concerns regarding the defense, then Brent Venables answered that query with an outstanding crop of defensive additions.
All in all Clemson raised the roof with three five-star pick ups and an additional nine four-star players to move the Tigers into the upper echelons of this year’s recruiting.
Now don’t go getting too worried about the offense either. Clemson shored up that end of the field with five-star offensive lineman Mitch Hyatt, ranked 22nd overall, who could actually play early. Finishing off their class was another two quarterback signings to give some stability during the Deshaun Watson era.
Coach Swinney probably said it best when he commented “that he couldn’t imagine how the class could have been much better than today”. If you want to continue to go head to head with the big boys and garner significant bowl wins over the likes of LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma, then this is the kind of class that will keep you at the top.
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