Dabo: We Believe This Is a Special Group

National signing day was without the drama and excitement of years past, as the Clemson Tigers' 2020 recruiting class of 24 signees was finished in December. But the lack of drama did not dampen the excitement of head coach Dabo Swinney.

National signing day was without the drama and excitement of years past, as the Clemson Tigers' 2020 recruiting class of 24 signees was finished in December. But the lack of drama did not dampen the excitement of head coach Dabo Swinney. 

"We signed our class in December," Swinney said. "It is still a fun day to celebrate this amazing group, many of which are already here at Clemson."

In fact, 15 of the Tigers' class is already on campus and preparing for their first spring practice session as a college athlete.

"They are off to a great start," Swinney said. "I do think they will prove to be one of the best groups we've had and allow us to continue to be one of the best programs in the country, on and off the field."

The Tigers were unable to make history, as they fell just shy of Swinney's first-ever No. 1 recruiting class. However, more important than the Tigers' final ranking, which finished at No. 3 nationally, is how they develop their players.

"Time will tell (how good the class is)," Swinney said. "We all know this is a developmental game... It is a very subjective process influenced by many, many factors. We try to stay focused on what we are looking for. Sometimes it matches up with what others think.

"We believe this is a special group."

However, for the Tigers one thing cannot be denied: the reach of the Tiger paw.

"Our brand is really strong," Swinney said. "We're going to sign kids from 12 different states today and since then we will now have signed kids from 25 different states. So still got a little work to do. Maybe I'll find one in South Dakota one day, who knows? But you know, it's just amazing where we've got guys from Connecticut and Maryland, one each from Connecticut, Maryland, Texas, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and California. We've got two from South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, three from Florida and six from the state of Georgia. So a really, really good group.

"This is our 10th consecutive top-15 class. So I'm 11 years head coach. It's our 10th top-15 class in a row."

National Signing Day is a special day for Swinney, not because of the highly ranked players that are committing to become Tigers, as great as that is, but because it is this day that makes college football unique.

"I mean, that's the one thing I don't like about the NFL is you don't get to recruit," Swinney said. "You know, they just give you one first-round pick and you know, one second-round pick. Maybe you get a couple here and there, but you don't, nobody gets an option, you know, so you can't really can't really out recruit anybody. But man, we get to live in Clemson, South Carolina, and this beautiful environment. And it's just pretty cool to see young men come all the way from California to Connecticut to Miami to Kansas to Texas, to Louisiana and Ohio and everywhere in between.

"So this little special place that we all love called Clemson. So it's awesome and just appreciate these young men and their families for believing in us. And again, it's awesome to see their excitement when they, when they, when they choose Clemson."

The shift in recruiting from being a top-20 program in the recruiting rankings to the top program in the nation has come because more kids want to come to Clemson.

“The biggest change is just more people want to come Clemson.” Swinney said. “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.

“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 to our brand we’ve benefited greatly from the last five years.”

While there is no doubt that the Tigers recent success on the football field has had a direct correlation to the success on the recruiting trail, Swinney also credits the Clemson administration for the Tigers' success.

“We have complete commitment from our university—our administration,” Swinney said. “We have great facilities, it’s important. At the end of the day, it’s about the people there. You can go stay at a Ritz Carlton, but if they treat you like crap, you ain’t going back. I don’t care how fluffy the pillows are.

“At the end of the day it’s about people. We’ve got a bunch of good people at Clemson. That’s always been my focus, is to surround myself with good people, to build a program, to change a culture. You have to do that through recruiting. You do that through discipline. You do that through graduation. You do that through staff.”