P.A.W. Journey Highlights Clemson Visit for 2023 S Landon Hale

2023 S Landon Hale visited Clemson for the Tigers final practice of the spring.

Landon Hale had originally planned to visit the weekend of the Clemson spring game.

However, the 2023 safety out of Yulee, Florida also competes in weightlifting and due to qualifying for regionals, which were held on the same weekend, Hale moved the visit up a few days, giving the defensive back a chance to watch the Tigers' final spring practice.

"We had to reschedule it to the sixth, which honestly, worked out better," Hale told All Clemson. "We got to see what a typical day for the staff and for the players kind of looks like. More of a relaxed environment as far as, you know, the spring game was definitely not normal circumstances for the team."

"I just would have preferred to see how practice was run and, and what the team meetings are like and the position meetings. Seeing all the students in class as we're touring the campus, for me, is what I would like to see. What it's really like, not what the facade of maybe the Saturday, big game day is like,"

Being that it was the final practice of the spring and the team was prepping for the spring game, Hale didn't get to see a full practice, but at the same time, he still was able to get a good feel for how the coaching staff runs things on a day to day basis.

"The practice was very short and abbreviated because they were preparing for the spring game," he said. "But I thought it was very organized and I got to at least see what a typical kind of practice looks like for them. How they warm up and how they do the walkthroughs and get prepared for these game day situations. So it was awesome to watch."

Currently, Hale has eight offers, with half of those coming from Ivy League institutions, and academics is something he and his family place a high priority on.

"I have eight Division-1 scholarships now, four of which are Ivy League," Hale said. "That is something that my family takes very seriously is grades. In the state of Florida, they allow high schoolers to take college classes and it's completely free and paid for by the state. I take full advantage of that." 

"I'm in three college classes this semester. And each class, if I get an A in it, it counts as a 5.0 towards my GPA. So it raises my grade point average. And if not, it basically lets me knock the class out of the way so that when I get to college, I don't ever have to take it again. So it's kind of a win-win scenario for me."

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive back takes football seriously, as well, and adding a Clemson offer would mean the world. Hale is willing to do whatever it takes to prove himself to the coaching staff and Dabo Swinney's high school camp this summer gives him that opportunity. It will be one of only three camps he plans to attend.

"It would be the biggest, it would be a huge blessing for sure," Hale said of a potential offer. "They were telling me that they offer the least amount of scholarships in the country, so it's a very select list to be on and I'd be honored to be considered one of those players or recruits. But I think I need a live, in-person evaluation at a camp to really prove myself because my testing numbers are very, very legit."

For now, Hale is just being patient and staying the course. While he's willing to let the process play out, he already knows the characteristics he's looking for in a school. Culture will be big, and Clemson checks that box, as is getting on the field. And of course, there's the academics part.

"Number one is my spiritual development," Hale said. "And that's what I really feel that Clemson and Oklahoma both have, Clemson especially. They started what was called the P.A.W. Journey and that was my favorite part of the entire day. I got to see how the players are being utilized as leaders in the community and how they're being impactful in Christ. You know, I play football but I'm more than an athlete."

"Factor number two is if I'm able to get playing time. Because I'm gonna be honest, I have other opportunities to go to schools where I would play very early. So when choosing a school I want to make sure that I get a significant amount of playing time early on in my career. Then probably number three is academics. How rigorous are their courses and am I gonna be challenged in the classroom and be able to graduate  with a degree, preferably a master's. That's the goal."

The Tigers, who went 10-3 in 2021 and finished 14th in the final Associated Press Poll, are the fourth team on FanDuel Sportsbook's list to win it all in 2022. Only reigning national champ Georgia (+200), runner-up Alabama (+200) and Ohio State (+800) are ahead of Clemson at +1000.

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