With apologies to National Signing Days of the past, today may be my favorite for Clemson football in recent memory.
No drama.
Whatsoever.
Clemson has signed 26 high school players and 1 transfer and has been done with the Class of 2023 for quite some time.
Though there are talks of tweaks and changes to the Early Signing Day (ESD) in December, which I understand most of the reasoning for, I like it this way and apparently so do the athletes.
The last time I looked at the top 100, 97 of them had already signed or committed.
I’m sure there’ll be some drama – there always is.
It just won’t be at Clemson and that makes me happy.
That’s not to say everything went well for the Tigers on the recruiting trail, as they struggled to find a running back until near the very end and the two they signed are the least touted of the class.
The defensive line talent is impressive, as are the offensive line prospects, and while quarterback Chris Vizzina dropped to No. 77 overall, there’s a feeling that he could be better than that in the long term.
An area that Clemson has regressed in the last few years is wide receiver. For all the talk of quarterback problems – which there was plenty – even with a Trevor Lawrence type talent back there, there is no Tee Higgins or Mike Williams on the outside.
There are pieces – Antonio Williams and perhaps Cole Turner – and even Mike Williams and Tee Higgins weren’t what they turned out to be as freshman, but the Tigers need a game breaker or someone that can be reasonably be expected to grow into one.
Clemson Football was hit or miss in the Class of 2023
For this class, the staff hit it out of the park along the defensive line, with 3 of the top 71 players nationally among the Tigers signees, headlined by Peter Woods.
But there’s other areas of concern that weren’t addressed as well, including running back and wide receiver as mentioned above, that have been issues for a couple of cycles and are still areas of need and ones that need to be addressed in the Class of 2024.
While we celebrate those that chose to be a part of this class, there is work to be done if the Tigers hope to contend for National Championships in the coming years.