Yesterday, the class of 2025 prospects put pen to paper on early signing day, and it was a relatively calm day for Clemson. The Tigers did swipe up one commit on signing day, but the rest of the day went exactly as planned. However, Clemson hasn't been immune to the insanity of current state of college football recruiting.
While signing day itself wasn't a problem, decommitments throughout the season have been. Seven 2025 prospects were committed at one point to the Tigers but have now signed with other schools. And it wasn't only low-level recruits, either.
Five of the seven decommits are ranked four-star or higher by 247Sports, and all but one is a four-star, according to the recruiting site's composite score. To make matters worse, Clemson tripped on the finish line multiple times. Four recruits decommitted after October 14, only 52 days ago.
Clemson was able to retain its highest-rated recruit, defensive lineman Amare Adams. The Florence, SC. native has been all Tiger for a long time, and it wasn't changing yesterday. But it begs the question, 'If he weren't from the Palmetto State, would he have stayed?"
High school recruiting needs to be elite, especially if Dabo Swinney continues to be unwilling to use the transfer portal. With 15 players signed, that's not enough to keep up with the average senior turnover, let alone the outgoing transfers.
Be that as it may, the talent coming in the 2025 is still very good. With only 15 commits, Clemson's class is ranked No. 26 in the nation. What's more, it's surrounded by teams with classes consisting of around 25 players. TCU is only three spots ahead of the Tigers with twice as many recruits.
Clemson has some rebuilding to do, but it still has a great foundation to build upon. And who knows? Yesterday was early signing day, so Swinney and the Tiger may work some magic between now and February, bringing in a few more before it's all said and done.