Dabo Swinney may not get the news he wants in Jay Schell's 4-star commitment

Clemson may have rolled out the red carpet for Jay Schell last weekend, but that still may not have been enough. After seeing his father's alma mater beat Georgia Southern in Week 2, Schell has made the trek to Norman to watch Oklahoma take on New Mexico this week. This will be the last of Schell's three in-game visits before he decides. While it is truly a two-team race, Clemson may come up short.

On Friday afternoon, On3/Rivals recruiting expert Sam Spiegelman predicted that Schell will commit to Oklahoma with 60-percent confidence. While he has missed on a few recently, Spiegelman has an 85-percent hit rate when it comes to his recruiting predictions. If either of his colleagues, Chad Simmons or Steve Wiltfong, were to put their name on the line, it would only increase this confidence.

Schell might be a Clemson legacy, but he has been a slight Oklahoma lean for some time. This is because he may want to go play linebacker for Brent Venables over in Norman. The former Clemson defensive coordinator guided Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff with an elite defense only a year ago. The Sooners' offense is nothing to write home about, but Schell is not concerned with that.

Jay Schell might not be the next big domino to fall for Clemson after all

How far will the ripples go? After what seemed to be a positive weekend for Clemson on the recruiting trail, Schell picking the Sooners over the Tigers could have disastrous consequences for the 2028 class. So far, Clemson only has four-star quarterback Trace Hawkins committed to the cause. In time, more prospective recruits will join him as Clemson commits, but not landing Schell would be so awful.

To be frank, Schell could be the next Sammy Brown for the Tigers. After all, he got to see Clemson's star linebacker rally the troops pre-game from inside the Tigers' locker room. This is usually reserved only for Clemson players and commits, not highly coveted recruits. With Schell expected to make his decision soon, Clemson fans can only hope Jason Eck's Lobos shock Venables' Sooners.

This recruiting battle may be billed as Dabo Swinney versus Venables, but it will be entirely Schell's decision. Both schools are programs where linebackers thrive. While Tom Allen is a savvy defensive mind in his own right, Venables is among the best linebackers coaches out there in the college game today. The fact that Swinney is a former receivers coach has always played a part in his recruitment.

At this time, Clemson fans should prepare for Schell to commit to Oklahoma before the end of the month, possibly before this time next week. The good news is that committing to a program does not fully guarantee a recruit is going there. It will not be until National Signing Day that Schell will lock it in by way of his national letter of intent. We have a long season ahead of us, so let's plan accordingly.

Schell may end up committing to Oklahoma, but that does not mean Clemson will stop recruiting him.

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