Clemson football: How Tennessee circus could help recruiting in a big way

How Tennessee circus could help Clemson football recruiting in a big way

The Clemson football program could benefit from the absolute circus that is just getting underway with the Tennessee Volunteers.

The biggest way? Recruiting.

Clemson football has had a knack from going into the state of Tennessee over recent years and steering recruits away from their in-state university. Just a few examples? Tee Higgins, Amari Rodgers, Mike Jones Jr., Kane Patterson and Bryn Tucker,  who were all at least 4-stars coming out of the state of Tennessee during their recruitments.

Now, as we enter the 2022 recruiting cycle, Clemson football is after another big Tennessee recruit

The No. 1 target at quarterback for the Tigers- at least right now- has been 4-star Ty Simpson.

Simpson, a native of Martin, TN, is listed at the No. 2 dual-threat QB in the country and the No. 42 overall player nationally. He is the No. 2 player in the state of Tennessee and is absolutely poised to move up in recruiting rankings before it’s all said and done.

While Simpson and Clemson have seemingly had a strong relationship, it’s become clear during his recruitment that Tennessee is the team to beat. Simpson has had nothing but glowing things to say about the Volunteers and even throughout the scrutiny that the program is facing, he continues to hold his in-state school in high regards.

Simpson has seemingly put his recruitment on hold as he awaits to see what will happen at Tennessee and how that might affect both Clemson football and Alabama, the two other schools who are considered the leaders in the clubhouse.

If Tennessee’s circus continues, it might force Simpson’s hand to have to choose to go elsewhere. As of right now, that would absolutely be Clemson.

That being said, there is another wrinkle to throw into this situation: Tony Elliott.

The rumors about Elliott becoming Tennessee’s next head coach are heating up and, if he were to move to Knoxville, that could actually push Simpson to commit to the Vols. Brandon Streeter has been the primary recruiter of Simpson, but there’s no doubt that Elliott also has a strong relationship with him.

It also remains to be seen how Streeter potentially being named the next offensive coordinator once Elliott leaves could have an effect on Simpson’s recruitment.

In the end, there are a bunch of ‘what-ifs’ that we can throw around pertaining to this situation, but it certainly can’t hurt Clemson’s chances with its top quarterback target (at least for the time being) that his in-state school is facing major scrutiny and might have some big penalties to pay in the near future.