Roadmap to Clemson's 2023 Recruiting Success

Oftentimes, success starts at home. However, when it comes to recruiting, it's hard for Clemson to make a living in its home state of South Carolina.

Unfortunately, the Palmetto State just isn't known for being a recruiting hotbed, meaning the Tigers need to be successful outside of the state, and as usual, that's exactly what Clemson is in the midst of doing.

The Tigers are currently putting together one of the best classes in the Dabo Swinney era. With 17 players currently committed, Clemson's 2023 class is generally considered one of the five best in the country at the moment.

Ironically, this success is coming on the heels of a "down" 10-3 season, which not only saw Clemson miss the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2014, but also saw Swinney lose several assistants, including his longtime defensive coordinator Brent Venables, along with offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. Both are former Broyles Award winners and were two of the best recruiters on the coaching staff.

However, it doesn't appear to have slowed the program down at all on the recruiting trail and the revamped coaching staff is making its living in enemy territory as it continues to put together the 2023 class.

Of the 17 commitments already on the board, two of the most highly-touted players came from the state of Alabama. One of those was the Tigers' most recent addition to the class, DL Peter Woods, one of the highest-rated players in the state.

First-year defensive tackles coach, Nick Eason, went right into the heart of Crimson Tide territory and won over one of the top players on Alabama's board. That's something that just doesn't happen very often, especially with regards to elite-level defensive linemen.

The other one was QB Chris Vizzina. No, this wasn't the Clemson-Alabama battle that we saw with Woods. In fact, Vizzina never even picked up an offer from the Crimson Tide, as Saban and company were hoping to land Arch Manning. However, he's still one of the top players in the state, arguably one of the Top-50 players in the class, and he chose to commit to the Tigers over more than 30 suitors.

Two blue-chip players, one generally considered a Top-25 talent and the other a Top-50 talent. Both from the state of Alabama, and both Clemson commitments.

The Tigers have also gone into Texas to secure verbal pledges from three more blue-chip talents, two of those being highly-touted offensive linemen in Harris Sewell and Ian Reed. Sewell, one of the best prospects in the state, is considered one of the top interior linemen in the entire class and Reed is a Top-250 talent in his own right.

The third commitment from the state of Texas is WR Noble Johnson. While he might be ranked a little lower by some of the recruiting services, there are arguments to be made that he's a little underrated. Either way, he's still a blue-chip talent, with an extremely high ceiling.

However, despite the success in those two states, it's neighboring Georgia where the Tigers have really made their living in this recruiting cycle. Eight of the 17 commits hail from the Peach State. That's almost half of the current recruiting class, with each one being a blue-chip prospect.

DT Vic Burley
LB Jamal Anderson
OL Zecharia Owens
DT Stephiylan Green
DE AJ Hoffler
CB Avieon Terrell
LB Dee Crayton
CB Branden Strozier

Obviously, Clemson routinely recruits the state of Georgia. But you'll have to go all the way back to 2002 to find a recruiting cycle in which the Tigers had this much success in the state. That year Clemson signed nine players out of Georgia.

We're also not talking about a bunch of developmental prospects. Four of the eight players from Georgia currently committed to Clemson are considered Top-250 talents, and all four are arguably Top-25 players in the state. Two more falls within the Top-300 range. On paper, this is the kind of talent that championship teams are built from.

Although, what makes this even more impressive might just be the timing. Remember, the Tigers lost three games last season, fielded what was by far the least productive offense the program's had since first appearing in the playoff in 2015, and lost the mastermind of Clemons's extremely successful defense in Venables.

There was a growing narrative that Swinney and his program were on a downward trend. One that would have an immediate impact on recruiting. However, all those in-house hires that were questioned so loudly earlier this year are already paying dividends on the recruiting trail.

It's possible all those predictions of Clemson's demise were a little premature. One thing does seem certain, though. That this 2023 class the Tigers are putting together should have a huge say in the future of the program.

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.

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