Dabo Swinney has gotten off to a modest start to his 2026 recruiting class as Clemson football has six commitments and ranks No. 24 nationally with no four-stars currently pledged.
The Tigers have been one of the top recruiting teams in the country under Swinney so there's no doubt that he'll land his fair share of four-stars and even some five-stars. In fact, he's making moves with the No. 1 linebacker in the country, per 247Sports.
According to Tom Loy, Clemson will be getting a visit from five-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson who is also being pursued by the likes of Auburn, Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia, among many others.
Top247 linebacker @Tyler16Atkinson tells me he is visiting Clemson this weekend. https://t.co/YUTJZfu096@247Sports @austinhannon_ pic.twitter.com/BoullBNGbJ
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) March 3, 2025
Atkinson is ranked the No. 8 overall recruit and No. 1 linebacker in the country, per the composite, and he holds a whopping 50 offers -- no, that's not a typo. He'll reportedly be on campus this weekend visiting the football program and potentially taking in No. 11 Clemson basketball's senior day against Virginia Tech, which could be a potential ACC title-clinching (share) win.
Swinney is working on getting his 2026 class to resemble the other powerhouses of the sport and landing Atkinson over Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State would be a heck of a start.
Georgia might be the favorite here for the five-star as he's from Loganville, Ga., but never count the Tigers out as they've been sending elite defenders to the NFL for years now. Atkinson is an NFL talent and I can see him trusting this Clemson staff with his future.
This is a massive visit.