Clemson football: Recruiting – It is what it is

Clemson fans have come to expect smooth sailing on the recruiting trail.

Clemson football has had a run of sustained success on the recruiting trail over the last several years, so much so that fans have come to expect smooth sailing towards a top ten class year after year.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program, so it’s not difficult to understand why it’s followed, scrutinized and analyzed.  Sometimes too much.

With the recent decommitment tight end Reid Mikeska Clemson sits with three commitments in the 2023, which seems low and is low compared to the top 10 teams in the 247sports recruiting rankings as I type this, who average 10.7 commits at this point.

My intel is indicating high schoolers are committing at a lot slower pace than previous years and perhaps that’s true.  But the teams currently in the top 10, not all of whom will remain there, are having no trouble getting their numbers.

It should be noted that Clemson’s current staff also is full of young coaches with limited recruiting experience, like Tyler Grisham and C.J. Spiller, for example.

Is it time to worry?  That depends on your personality and perspective.

With all the angst and struggles of the 2022 cycle Clemson still finished 10th in the nation per the 247sports rankings with 20 total recruits, including a five star quarterback in Cade Klubnik.

Could they have done better?  Of course, but that doesn’t mean the class was, or will be, a bust.

Clemson’s own recruiting process means by its very nature things happen slower

Clemson’s own recruiting process means by its very nature things happen slower than your typical top tier program and it’s designed to work that way for a reason.  It’s a formula that’s tried and true and has worked for the Tigers in the past.

The question is will it work moving forward or does it need to evolve?

My perspective is it’s still a bit early for a full out panic, but something to be mindful of and keep an eye on.  As Yogi Berra once said, “It gets late early out there” and the same could be said about recruiting – before you know it, it’s too late.

A month from now, if Clemson is sitting at 3 commitments, then I’ll begin to give it some more thought and figure out if there may be deeper, longer term issues.

Really though, as a fan there’s nothing I can do that will change the course and trajectory of Clemson recruiting.

As a Director of IT once told me when a system upgrade didn’t go as expected, “It is what it is”.