Clemson football picks up a big signing-day win on the recruiting trail

This year, the narrative surrounding the Clemson football program's recruiting efforts was rather pessimistic. That's because, in the 2025 recruiting class cycle, seven players decomitted from Clemson to join other programs. And most of those players were high-profile recruits.

However, on the first day that high school players could sign with universities, Clemson scored a major win. 3-star safety JaKarrion Kenan announced Wednesday at a ceremony that he was signing with the Tigers and that was news head coach Daby Swinney needed to hear.

Clemson has a small recruiting class this year. At only 15 players, the 2025 Clemson recruiting class is currently tied with Louisville for the third-smallest class in the ACC.

However, there is a lot of quality in that group as the Tigers have the No. 4 class in the conference and the No. 26 class in the nation according to 247Sports.com. Of the 15 players currently in the class, there is one 5-star recruit (defensive lineman Amare Adams) and five 4-star players.

While 247Sports rates Kenan as a 3-star prospect, other services have him listed as a 4-star talent. Either way, he's a welcome addition for Clemson.

The 247Sports composite rankings have him listed as the No. 45 safety in America and the No. 12 player in South Carolina. In addition to Clemson, he holds offers from Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, NC State, Duke, Houston, Indiana, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and others.

This signing-day win was important for Clemson because it gives the program at least one defensive back recruit in the current class. However, the current roster is already chalked full of young talent at the safety position.

Of the 15 safeties listed on the roster, eight are either freshmen or sophomores. Thus, Kenan won't be rushed into having to fill an immediate need.

While adding a three-star player like Kenan isn't going to be cause for a parade through campus, it is a nice late development for a program that needed good news on the recruiting front. Now, it will be interesting to see if Swinney uses the transfer portal to improve his roster as well or if he will stay out of that talent-acquisition frenzy again this year.