Clemson Tigers News: Opt outs, injuries, commitment and more

When I noticed last week that Clemson football stars Myles Murphy and Bryan Bresee were still considered top 15 picks in next year’s NFL Draft I prepared myself mentally for opt-outs from the Orange Bowl.

As fans, we can speculate all we want on what a player should or shouldn’t do, but the fact is Murphy is protecting what could well be a $16,000,000 payday come April.

I don’t blame him one bit.

It appears Bryan Bresee, in a similar situation, was present and practicing yesterday and that’ll be an interesting story to follow.

Bresee missed large stretches of this season with injuries and the death of his younger sister Ella, so he may be in a different place both physically and emotionally.

The Tigers will be missing another defensive stalwart as Trenton Simpson reinjured the ankle he originally injured at Notre Dame and will be out three weeks or so.

Simpson is draft eligible, but hasn’t announced a decision yet and Dabo said he would let Simpson make the announcement when he’s ready.

So the Tigers are down at least two starters on defense heading into the Orange Bowl.

Clemson football receives commitment from South Carolina player of the year

Not all the news is bad though, as the Tigers got a 2023 commitment at running back yesterday and if you have been following this you had to wonder whether it would ever happen.

Not Jarvis Green, he’s a recent offer, but running back in general has been a tough get on the recruiting trail this cycle, which is fascinating considering the really good backs Clemson has now.

The 5.9.5′, 192 Green is the South Carolina player of the year and rushed for over 2,000 yards for Dutch Fork.

Other College Football News

Mike Leach passed away yesterday at 61.  Living in Texas, I likely followed Leach’s career more than most that will read this and I sat high about Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium one Saturday night and watched his Air Raid offense at work against the Longhorns.  Texas Tech lost the game, but seeing the simplistic beauty work over and over was something I haven’t forgotten.

A couple years later I watched that same Red Raider team take down Texas in Lubbock on a phenomenal catch and run by Michael Crabtree as time expired in a great college football game.

RIP Coach Leach.