Which connections are strong enough to get Rashan Gary to sign with Clemson or Michigan?
The number-one prospect Rashan Gary’s decision on National Signing Day could come down to which connections are the strongest and not the football programs themselves.
Strong connections to a program can really make the difference in which school a recruit chooses on signing day and #1 recruit Rashan Gary is no exception. He will decide between Clemson and Michigan and here are the reasons why he chooses either school.
Michigan.
Paramus Catholic head coach Blake Costanzo played linebacker(2011) for Jim Harbaugh when he coached at San Francisco.
Michigan linebacker coach
is a former alum and head coach of Paramus Catholic. Partridge resigned from Paramus on Jan. 18th, Rashan Gary received a Michigan offer on the 21st, and Partridge became Michigan recruiting operations coordinator before last years’ Signing Day.
Current Michigan safety Jabrill Peppers and offensive lineman Juwann Bushell-Beatty are Rashan Gary’s former teammates at Paramus. They were also coached by Chris Partridge.
Clemson.
- Rashan Gary has an uncle and other family members that live in nearby Anderson and his mom, Jennifer Coney talked about those connections with Tigernet after the Clemson coaches in-home visit two weeks ago. Here is some of what she had to say,
"I think Clemson was a school that when this whole football thing started picking, Clemson was always a school of interest. My brother (who lives in nearby Anderson) always says great things about Clemson,” Coney said. “My niece and nephew, even though they go to Anderson University, they’re always on the Clemson campus. I always see pictures. My nephew is a graduate assistant coach at Anderson University and their athletic director used to be the assistant AD at Clemson. He works closely with my nephew. They went to Clemson and he takes pictures and talks about how great Clemson is, so it sparked my interest. I know my brother and my family wouldn’t say great things if Clemson had a lot of issues. They would not do that. That right there sparked my interest. I just saw that it was so nice when we were there, but, again, there wasn’t a lot of staff there. A lot of them came to the school because they knew we were coming on a visit. I’d like to see how it is."
As you can see Clemson football will have a lot of Michigan connections to overcome to get Gary to pick them tomorrow, but they do have Coney’s family to help with the already great Clemson family atmosphere. So is Michigan the team to beat? Most people think so, but here is what Coney also told Tigernet weeks ago.
"Is Michigan the team to beat? You can ask is Clemson the team to beat. You can ask is USC the team to beat. Right about now, we’re all about equal,” Coney said. “Ithink that maybe they say that Michigan is the team to beat because Rashan’s former head coach is there. And? Why couldn’t Clemson be the team to beat when my brother is 10 minutes down the road and I don’t have to worry about anybody because I know Rashan would be okay at Clemson because if he wasn’t okay my brother is 10 minutes down the road. Why wouldn’t they say Clemson is the team to beat? I would say my brother has a stronger relationship with Rashan than his coach."
More tigers: National Signing Day 2016: Wish List For Clemson Football
Hopefully, the success of the Clemson program, family, and a short drive to a home cook meal can swing the pendulum in the Tiger’s favor. His decision will be made tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2.