Clemson Football: Tigers are reloading with 5-star DL Bryan Bresee

The ultimate test of a College Football program is if it can reload after losing a talented player. The Clemson football program is doing just that.

One of the hallmarks of great College Football teams is the ability to reload and continue on towards another National Championship run.

Alabama has been doing it for years. When star middle linebacker C.J. Moseley was drafted in the first-round of the 2014 National Football League (NFL) draft, the team simply inserted Reggie Ragland. Before Mosley, it was Rolando McClain. All three were First Team All-Americans.

Play. Win. National Championship. Repeat.

Changing the Formula

Now, the Clemson Tigers have tapped into that same formula for success, and the dividends are paying off with appearances in three of the last four National Championship Games and two championship titles.

But success just doesn’t grow overnight. In the NFL, a club can go 4-12-0 one season, 11-5-0 the next year and then compete in the Super Bowl the third with a sterling 13-3-0 record. That was the path the Los Angeles Rams took the last three seasons – from doghouse to penthouse in a short span.

College Football is more of a steady build process, however. Certainly teams can – and do – have considerable change over the course of a season or two, but usually when a school suddenly bursts into the forefront of the national scene, it has been through a steady uptick in production, improved recruits, a new coach here or there, and simply young players who become more mature and finally develop into that ace they were advertised as being coming out of high school.

It wasn’t that long ago when Tommy Bowden was coaching the Tigers to a 3-3 start in 2008 before resigning the head coaching position. It wasn’t that long ago under new head coach Dabo Swinney that Clemson found itself on the losing end of a season in 2010 with a 6-7 record and a fifth-place finish in the ACC Atlantic Division.

Today, everyone believes that Swinney is the Bill Belichick of college football. But 2010 had its place in Clemson football history.

It stands as a reminder that even perceived genius can have its pitfalls. 2010 had the beginnings of much better recruitments who were still finding their place in the college football universe. RB Andre Ellington and TE Dwayne Allen were just sophomores.

DB Byron Maxwell would go on to win a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. OT Chris Hairston would be drafted by the Buffalo Bills and have a fine pro career. Three-time Pro Bowler WR DeAndre Hopkins was a skinny freshman. In all, over a dozen players from that 2010 squad would make an NFL roster.

Since then, the Tigers have won five division titles, four ACC crowns, won seven bowl games, plus captured two National Championships.

The Reload begins now

If you are a five or four-star football recruit, what exactly would you be looking for as far as a college football program?

Close to home? That used to be number one. Homey atmosphere? Certainly a young player wants to feel at home away from home. Exceptional coaching staff? You bet. Always on TV? You can’t get to the NFL if nobody ever sees you play. Championship atmosphere? It stands to reason that champions develop championships.

And Swinney’s coaching staff is excellent on the recruiting trail. What mother and father doesn’t want to see their son frequently on national television on Saturdays? And Clemson is one of the most televised college football teams; not number one, but every year they inch up towards the top. Back in the day it was usually Notre Dame, USC, Nebraska, Texas, Miami, Oregon, Michigan, Oklahoma and Penn State.

Clemson has risen in the top recruiting classes each year. This year, they are a Top-5 and are just decimals behind perennial winners Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. With the 2020 class, the Tigers are ranked number one in recruiting.

One of the prize recruits for next season is a pass-rushing demon from Damascus High School in Damascus, Maryland. Bryan Bresee is a left defensive end and plays like a man among boys. He committed to Clemson in April after his junior season so that he could devote his senior season to one of Maryland’s hunting seasons: quarterbacks.

Bresee has been one of the top prospects on everyone’s list, but just last week he has ascended to the number one spot atop 247 Sports’ football rankings for the 2020 class. Clemson has six players committed in the Top-30.

You can view the complete list here:

According to 247sports.com, the Maryland native has been placed in the top three spot for quite a while behind South Carolina’s Hammond High School DE Jordan Burch, and Catawissa, PA WR Julian Fleming from Southern Columbia High School. Fleming is an Ohio State commit whereas Burch is uncommitted – although he is listed as a 62% chance of following Bresee to the Tigers.

It is rather an oddity for the top two positions to be held by defensive players, much less on the defensive line.

Quarterback Nightmare

Bresse is a 6-foot-5, 290 pound terrifying beast for opposing offensive tackles. Most teams have placed a tight end to help out with blocking this monster or left a running back in the area to attempt to get in his path.

On other recruiting sites Bresse is listed as number eight overall on ESPN while Rivals.com lists him as the number two overall prospect. All three sites have him listed as the number one defensive end. He is a Maxpreps Junior All-American and the Gatorade Player-of-the-Year for the State of Maryland. He had letters of intent from 36 D-1 schools. Other ACC schools in which he turned down a scholarship include Duke, Boston College, Syracuse, Florida State, Miami, Louisville, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech.

Other key schools on the losing end include Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and South Carolina.

Oftentimes, the other team’s offense simply runs away from him in order to gain yardage. In his junior season alone, Bresse had 12.5 sacks and an astounding 36 tackles for loss. He predominately has been lined up at left defensive end, but has been inserted into either defensive tackle spot some as well as right DE.

He is very strong and often will simply manhandle the tackle and push or sling him to the side in order to get around him with a free shot into the backfield.

Bresee has an excellent motor and has made quite a few tackles from the trailing DE position as teams run away from his side. The hype around this kid being a backfield disruption harkens back to the days of all the uproar about Jadeveon Clowney’s high school exploits and the speculation of where he would end up.

Of course, he went down the road to South Carolina and parlayed his time into the first overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft and is still a force with the Houston Texans of the NFL.

The recorded 40-time for Bresee has been 4.8 which is exceptional for a man that big. This explains why he can accelerate with ease towards an opposing quarterback.

For the past several years, Clemson has churned out many a defensive lineman who would go on to bigger things in the NFL. Just last year, three former Tigers were taken in the first-round of the annual college draft with DE Clelin Ferrell taken fourth overall by the Oakland Raiders, DT Christian Wilkins was selected by the Miami Dolphins with the 13th pick, and then DT Dexter Lawrence went 17th to the New York Football Giants.

Other Tigers first-round defensive linemen taken in the NFL draft include DE Shaq Lawson (2016-Buffalo Bills), DT William Perry (1985-Chicago Bears), DE Gaines Adams (2007-Tampa Bay Buccaneers), DT Chester McGlockton (1992-Los Angeles Raiders), DE Vic Beasley (2014-Atlanta Falcons), DE Jim Stuckey (1980-San Francisco 49ers), DE Lou Cordileone (1960-Giants), and DT Trevor Pryce (1997-Denver Broncos).

And if Bresee has the college career that everyone is hopeful he will have, his name should be inserted into this list.