The No. 1 linebacker in the state of Maryland will be on Clemson’s campus later this week.
The Clemson Insider spoke with Our Lady of Good Counsel (Onley, MD.) 2024 four-star linebacker Aaron Chiles, who previewed his upcoming visit to Clemson on Friday, April 1 and what he’s been hearing from the Tigers lately.
“Lately, I’ve been talking to the DB coach, Coach Mike (Reed) and he’s been asking me to come through and come down there,” Chiles said. “On April 1, I’m planning on coming down and taking a visit.”
Chiles estimates that he first got in contact with Reed about two weeks ago and they’ve spoken twice a week since then.
“So far he’s told me that I’m a great player and that they’d love to have me down there,” Chiles said regarding what he heard from Reed. “They don’t ask a lot of guys to come down unless they think they’re good players. He wanted me to come down with all that talent.”
“He’s been a good guy,” Chiles continued. “He’s been honest with me. Me and him, he’s from (Prince George’s County) and I know which school he actually went to, which is close to my house. He’s from this area and he’s been truthful with me. That’s all I can look for is him being honest. He told me what the future holds for me and the program.”
Reed serves as the primary recruiter for Chiles’ area, which is just north of Washington, D.C. Though, according to Chiles, Clemson is looking at him to play the linebacker position at the next level, but the Tigers don’t know whether they want him to play inside or outside just yet. They want to see how he grows.
Chiles broke his wrist prior to his sophomore season, so he missed the first game and was in a cast for a couple of games, which slowed him down a bit. Once he was able to shake off some of the rust towards the end of the season is when Chiles was finally able to showcase his talent and really show what he can do on the field.
He describes himself as a high-motor, sideline-to-sideline linebacker, who is also a plus blitzer. Chiles envisions himself as a hybrid player, there’s not one position that he can’t really play. He feels like he can play anywhere on the field.
As far as his recruitment is concerned, Chiles has blown up. Prior to his sophomore season, he already held some high-profile offers from Power Five programs like the University of Virginia, Maryland and Boston College. He picked up an offer from Penn State on Dec. 4, 2021, and has since earned offers from Southern Cal, West Virginia, Miami, Virginia Tech, UConn, Ole Miss, Liberty, Rutgers, Texas A&M and Marshall.
“As a kid I dreamed of this, seeing all these guys have all these offers and stuff like that,” he said. “Right now, I’m just soaking it in the recruiting process because it only happens once. Right now, I’m just enjoying it.”
Chiles has been on visits to Virginia and Maryland and in addition to Clemson, he plans on visiting Penn State on Saturday, April 9. With that being said, what is he looking forward to seeing while on his visit to Clemson this week?
“I’m very excited,” Chiles said. “I’ve been seeing them play for a long time, win championships, so it’s an honor to be coming down there. I just want to see what the culture’s like, Death Valley and all that. I’m excited to see the atmosphere down there.”
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