While he’s the brother of a former Clemson standout safety, Cole Turner wasn’t on the Tigers’ radar.
Dabo Swinney has known Turner for a long time, but he was primarily a basketball player. He didn’t play football. By the time Vestavia Hills got him to join the football team, the pandemic had rolled around. It would eventually play a factor in his recruitment.
Turner’s grandfather reached out to Clemson’s head coach and told him that he might want to watch the three-star receiver out of Vestavia Hills (Ala.) High School. He obliged and was in contact with the younger Turner brother in November, telling him that Clemson wanted to keep him under the radar for the time being.
“I knew if people watched his tape, he was gonna get a lot of opportunities,” Swinney said during his National Signing Day press conference Wednesday. “And, that’s kind of what happened. He had a lot of people from Notre Dame to other schools reaching out to him as his name got out there and people started watching him.”
The rest is history.
The Tigers were able to seal his verbal pledge right after he took his official visit and he later put pen to paper and officially became a Clemson signee earlier this week. Swinney knows that Clemson was fortunate to be able to get a prospect like Turner this late in the game.
“It’s just amazing, to be honest with you, how that all came about,” Swinney said. “All I can tell you is that’s kind of a God thing because that’s kind of how it happened for Nolan because we weren’t recruiting Nolan.”
This past season put Cole on the map. He was named first-team All-South Metro as an athlete after recording 42 catches for 581 yards and seven touchdowns. He averaged 19.5 yards per punt return and 34.5 yards per kickoff returning, finishing his senior season with 1,160 all-purpose yards.
“We’re pumped about him,” Grisham said during Clemson’s National Signing Day show on Wednesday. “You watch his film and you see why we want him. It’s not just because he’s Nolan’s brother. That’s what people are gonna say. He’s a phenomenal receiver that’s gonna be able to continue to grow and develop.”
The minute you turn on the tape, you realize that Cole is more than just Nolan Turner’s brother. Sure, he’s a legacy recruit, but you’d be selling him short by pigeonholing him to that moniker. He’s a legitimate prospect.
While it may kill his older brother just a bit to hear this, Cole is a faster, bigger athlete than Nolan was coming out of Vestavia Hills. According to Swinney, Cole is twitchy, long, has great ball skills and is a big-time athlete. At the same time, he’s also a big-time basketball player.
Just like Nolan, Clemson plans on “throwing his butt in the weight room for a year,” according to Swinney.
“Man, just watching his tape, you can quickly see that he has a great skill set,” Grisham said via Turner’s official Clemson bio. “He’s 6-2, 180-pounds with more growing to go. “He’s a guy that’s always played basketball his entire life, but what you see is not near the finished product that you have in Cole Turner.”
“He’s got great speed, great length and so as an outside receiver, he can run past you and he can finish those 50/50 balls down the field. What I love most is that he’s tough, he’s gritty. He can return kickoffs and punts. He’s great with the ball in his hands. We’re thrilled to have him join our squad this summer and get rolling with us.”
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