Dabo Swinney and Clemson football are cooking on the recruiting trail these days.
After a slow start to the 2026 class, Swinney had a massive spring that vaulted his class up to No. 2 in the country. While it has dipped slightly since then, the Tigers still sit in that top five at No. 4 after a commitment from Kentavion Anderson from Roebuck, S.C. He is now the Tigers' second-highest-rated commit in the 2026 class.
Clemson has 15 commits so far with probably 10 spots left so now Swinney can be even more selective in his recruiting process. Seven of those 15 are four-stars.
And there are more on the way.
But what has made Clemson great over the years has been the solid combination of four and five-stars to go along with hungry three-stars that want to prove themselves.
Clemson may be on the verge of landing one of those three-stars.
Clemson received a crystal ball on 247Sports to land three-star edge rusher JR Hardrick from South Pittsburg, Tenn. He holds two dozen offers, mostly from smaller schools, but Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, and Mississippi State are all recruiting him.
Hardrick is ranked the No. 98 edge rusher in the class by 247Sports and he's not yet ranked by the Composite which means he's likely new to the rankings and he should rise soon.
The three-star edge from Tennessee is expected to visit Clemson on May 30 and we could see a commitment shortly after. This isn't one of those "blow me away" type of recruits, but he's a solid player who should mold into a real contributor throughout his college career.
Programs like Clemson are built on guys like this.