A talented prospect with a couple of ties to the Clemson football program made his way to Tiger Town earlier this summer.
Grayson High School (Loganville, Ga.) wide receiver Darren Coleman – a rising junior in the class of 2024 – traveled to campus June 1 to participate in the first session of the Dabo Swinney Camp.
It marked the second straight summer that Coleman camped at Clemson.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “I was able to go there for the second year in a row and learned a lot from a lot of the coaches, like (wide receivers) coach (Tyler) Grisham and (graduate assistant) Artavis Scott – just a lot of learning the coaching points. Even in one-on-ones, routes on air, they were helping me through the whole thing, even stuff I needed to work on.”
What kind of feedback did Coleman get from Grisham and Scott about his camp workout?
“What they told me, they said I did really good,” he said. “But during the camp, even if I caught a ball, Coach Grisham or Artavis Scott, they would come over to me and tell me what I needed to do to fix it to where I can get more open or what I did too much of, to basically just cut out the extra steps.”
Coleman started out at the camp with the group of rising juniors in the 2024 class. But the coaches thought enough of what they saw from Coleman to move him into the group of seniors.
“Towards the end, I was running with the seniors,” he said. “It made me feel really good because it made me feel like I was actually showing them my potential and they were actually paying attention and watching me. So, to make that little transition (where) I’m up with the older kids, but I still had to work and do the same thing.”
Coleman has a connection to Clemson co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Mickey Conn, who coached Coleman in little league and was the head coach at Grayson for 16 seasons prior to joining Swinney’s staff in March 2016.
Coleman also has a relationship with Clemson sophomore running back Phil Mafah, a former teammate of Coleman at Grayson who accompanied Coleman and Grisham on a tour of the facilities when Coleman camped at Clemson last year.
“We used to talk a lot when he was with the team,” Coleman said of Mafah. “He was very nice, kind. It wasn’t like he was stuck up and cocky – he was talking to everybody, even though he was a senior, really good, but he was just nice to everybody. So we did talk, and every time I come there, he always daps us up and talks to us for a little bit. So, it’s always nice to meet him again.”
Coleman, who picked up his first offer from Morehouse College in late June, feels he has a lot to offer college football programs as a wideout in the future.
“I feel like my precise route-running and also my speed and able to get open and get separation,” he said.
Coleman expects to be back in Tiger Town this fall to take in a game at Death Valley.
The chance to actually suit up for the Tigers in Death Valley down the road would be a dream come true for him.
“Having a chance to play at Clemson, that would be amazing, that would be great,” he said. “Even getting an offer, because they’re a top school, they have a really good football program and they have a really good academic program – not just football, they have a very great academic program. They major in engineering and finance, that’s what I (want to) major in. So, I would be able to do good in school and also football, too. So, getting an offer from Coach Swinney would be amazing.”
The grind continues @ClemsonFB @CoachConn @Coach_Grisham @ArtavisScott Woody McCorvey @SorrellsJordan @CarterRamsFB @Coach_FredM @coachsellers10 @coach_them_up1 @Coach_Neal16 @CoachZachPine @routeking_1 @BHoward_11 @PlayBookAthlete @RecruitGeorgia @GeorgiaPrepMag @JeremyO_Johnson pic.twitter.com/yEQhi6zumO
— Darren Coleman (@DacoColeman) June 1, 2022
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