It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report.
We hope everyone had a great weekend.
4-star cornerback previews upcoming Clemson visit
Prior to his unofficial visit to Penn State this past weekend, The Clemson Insider caught up with St. Joseph’s Prep School (Philadelphia, Pa.) four-star cornerback Omilio Agard. If you’ve followed our recruiting coverage since last summer, you would know that we’ve long-maintained that Agard is a name worth knowing in the class of 2024.
For the past nine months, the Philadelphia native has been strengthening his relationship with Clemson and cornerbacks coach Mike Reed.
“I’ve been in contact with Coach Reed a lot lately and for the past two-to-three months,” Agard said. “Me and him have still been building that relationship and we have a great one now. I’m getting down there this summer, so that’s another big thing.”
“It’s great,” he added regarding his relationship with Clemson’s cornerbacks coach. “We don’t always have to talk about football and we always don’t talk about the school, we just talk about personal stuff and crack jokes and just the other day, talking about me playing basketball and everything. The relationship is very genuine and it ain’t just serious. We also connect outside of football.”
Agard will be down at Clemson on June 2; He’ll participate in the Dabo Swinney Camp and later take an unofficial visit afterward. Say that when Agard visits Tiger Town next month, he’s able to earn an offer from Clemson. What would that mean for him and his recruitment?
“That would be great and that would just show my worth to the team because I know Clemson, they don’t offer until going into your junior year,” Agard said. “Their process is different and I really appreciate that process, because if you get that offer, it’s like you’ve been building a relationship and it’s very genuine and the coaches believe that you will be a big part of the team. So, to get that offer is amazing because it just shows how great of a person you are in and out. It just shows that they’re very genuine.”
When Agard was first in contact with Reed last summer, he informed him that he was a guy that the Tigers would offer right away, but obviously, their process is a bit different. That level of honesty goes a long way and tells Agard that Clemson really believed in him. Back then, he was a freshman heading into his sophomore season.
The Tigers have been there since the start of Agard’s recruitment and watched him progress. That’s big for him and his recruitment. He’s appreciative that Clemson focused on building a relationship with him and is hopeful to get an offer sometime this summer.
While his process is still 100% open, Agard mentions schools like Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Penn State, South Carolina, Alabama and Kentucky, as those who are recruiting him the hardest.
After he visits Clemson, Agard will make his way to Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.
Ohio QB, brother of former Tigers’ target set for summer southern tour
As we previously reported, Findlay (Oh.) High School 2025 QB Ryan Montgomery is slated to visit Clemson next month. While Montgomery tweeted out a graphic Monday that indicated he would be visiting Tiger Town on June 19, we’ve been told that the visit is still set to take place on the 18th.
Right now, the plan is for Montgomery to spend June 18 at the University of North Carolina from 9:00 a.m. to noon, before having a late dinner in Clemson. Montgomery is also scheduled to visit the University of Virginia (June 17), the University of Georgia (June 20) and University of Tennessee (June 21).
Montgomery is the younger brother of Luke Montgomery, a 2023 four-star offensive tackle, who pledged to Ohio State earlier this year.
TCI spoke with Ryan’s head coach at Findlay, Stefan Adams, earlier this month.
Adams is super impressed with a kid who was 6-foot-2, 180-pounds as a freshman — which as a freshman is pretty good. Ryan has grown an inch and added 20 pounds to his frame after dedicating himself to the weight room this offseason. He’s also dedicated himself to his craft and has also gotten better as a quarterback.
“Ryan’s a very high-cerebral young man,” Adams said. “He’s a little more reserved, but also he’s young. I’m super excited to see what he has to build on in the future. He played as a freshman. He started every game of the year and went on to a playoff run. He did a fantastic job and had great, solid numbers in passing, touchdown and interception ratio. He’s worked extremely hard this offseason to continue to build on his skill set.”
Even though he’s only a freshman, Ryan currently holds offers from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami (OH), Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Pitt, Tennessee and Toledo.
4-star linebacker includes Clemson in top group; slated to visit next month
One of the nation’s top linebackers dropped his top school’s list on Monday and it should come as no surprise to those that follow Clemson recruiting to see the Tigers included in the graphic.
Jesuit (Fla.) 2023 four-star linebacker Troy Bowles is down to Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Rutgers, Auburn and Oklahoma.
Before he left to take the head coaching position at the University of Oklahoma, Brent Venables offered Bowles a scholarship. We spoke with Bowles shortly after Clemson pulled the trigger on an offer and
“I don’t even know,” Bowles told The Clemson Insider. “I was shocked because I had went up there during the summer for the [Dabo Swinney] Camp and they said they would keep in touch. I was shocked though.”
Wesley Goodwin has picked up where Venables left off and has done an excellent job in continuing to recruit Bowles. Clemson will continue its pursuit of the prized linebacker target when he returns to campus next month.
Bowles currently ranks as high as the No. 37 overall prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports, which considers him the No. 2 linebacker in the country for his class.
His father, of course, is the current head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Todd Bowles.
Peach State cornerback carving out relationship with Goodwin
It doesn’t take long to figure out why Jaylen Bell has already earned the nickname, “Hollywood.”
The 2025 cornerback out of Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) is already one of the top cornerbacks in his class and has earned offers from schools like Alabama, Florida and Georgia, already.
TCI caught up with Bell Monday, as he detailed his relationship with Clemson’s defensive coordinator and his plans to visit next month.
“I’ve just been in contact with Coach Wes Goodwin and I’m just getting ready to go camp down there in the summer,” Bell said. “I just think he’s a great coach. He coaches his players very hard. He’s always been in contact with me, asking me how I’m doing and how spring ball is. I can really see us building a great relationship in the near future.”
According to Bell, Goodwin likes that he’s a “complete cornerback.” If you watch his film, you’d be able to see that Bell can tackle, he can follow receivers and make plays on the ball; he’s the complete package at corner.
While Bell doesn’t have a specific date in mind, he told us that he will be participating at The Dabo Swinney Camp at some point this summer.
Next month will be a great opportunity for Bell to prove that he’s worthy of an offer down the line. Even though he’s only a rising sophomore, we asked Bell what it would mean to eventually earn an offer from a school like Clemson.
“That offer would mean the world to me,” Bell said, “because a lot of great players came from Clemson. Players like AJ Terrell, I know his little brother Avieon Terrell. I just got a great connection with Clemson with knowing AJ Terrell and Wes Goodwin. That would mean the world.”
Sunshine State signal-caller sets Clemson visit
Columbus (Miami, Fla.) four-star quarterback Adrian Posse announced via social media Monday that he’ll be visiting Clemson on June 1. Posse — a 6-foot-5, 225-pound rising junior in the class of 2024 — also locked in visits to Notre Dame, Pitt, Penn State, LSU, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas.
Clemson had shown interest in Posse dating back to when he participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp last summer. While he’s likely not the Tigers’ top quarterback target in the class of 2024 right now, as that honor likely belongs to Willis (Texas) five-star DJ Lagway, Clesmon continues to monitor the Sunshine State signal-caller.
It’s likely that Clemson’s quarterback recruiting board for the 2024 class will become more clear in the coming months.
Posse is currently ranked as the No. 15 quarterback and the nation’s No. 145 overall prospect in the class of 2024, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
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