On his way back from his unofficial visit to Oklahoma, Yulee (Fla.) three-star safety Landon Hale saw that a couple of Clemson coaches had begun to follow him on Twitter. Shortly thereafter, he got in touch with Wesley Goodwin and they’ve been texting with each other ever since.
If you follow Clemson football recruiting closely, Hale’s already announced his intentions to visit Clemson from April 8-9.
While he’ll be in attendance for Clemson’s spring game, Goodwin wanted him to come up the day prior so that he can get academic meetings set up, get shown around campus and spend some time with the coaches.
“I have heard nothing about Clemson that is negative,” he said, “anything that I’ve heard about Clemson is that they’re top-notch. I’m really looking forward to building relationships with all the coaches going forward. I just really want to see what the culture’s about, I want to see the facilities and I want to see if it lives up to the hype that everybody says it does.”
What’s Hale’s relationship like with Clemon’s co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach so far?
“So far we’ve just been texting and we got on the phone the other day,” Hale said, “but I want to continue to build it with him and get to know him a little more. He called and told me about his story and his time at Clemson. He told me about his family. We share a very strong love for Christ so that is something that we definitely have in common.”
Hale hasn’t yet discussed an offer with Goodwin. They’re just beginning their relationship and he imagines that subject will be broached once he’s on campus. As of now, Hale’s just trying to get a relationship started, so going forward, when Goodwin watches his senior tape, he’s gonna be very impressed.
What would getting a Clemson offer mean to Hale?
“Shoot, Clemson is a top choice for me, like seriously,” Hale said. “If they were to offer me, I would seriously think about committing because my number one choice in a program is how am I gonna be impacted spiritually? Am I gonna be able to grow or is this gonna be a culture where I’m gonna be distracted the whole time and the locker room isn’t the best?
“My head coach at Yulee, Coach Terrence Flagler, he just left Yulee, but he played at Clemson. He’s told me a lot about the program. If it lives up to his expectations, I’m super excited.”
Flagler, who is now an assistant coach at IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) told his now-former players just what Clemson is all about. It clearly caught the attention of Hale.
“He said that the gameday atmosphere is absolutely incredible,” Hale recalled. “He said you’re gonna get there and it’s gonna be nothing like you’ve ever seen. He was also telling us about how all the coaches really care for you. He said that it’s a top-notch education and it’s a place that I think that I would want to be for sure.”
While Hale won’t get to see a regular-season game day atmosphere during his visit to The Valley, he’s already looking forward to getting on campus and seeing everything Clemson has to offer.
“Man, I’m really excited and I’m thankful for the opportunity, at least,” he said. “Like if I can just go up there and meet with the coaches and start building a relationship, that’s all I need.”
In addition to Clemson, Hale is starting to receive some significant attention from other Power Five programs like Oklahoma, Florida and Arkansas to name a few.
“It took a lot of hard work,” Hale said. “My freshman year, I was around 115-pounds and now I’m almost 190. It’s been constant work in the gym, the classroom, outside doing extra training after practice. It’s so rewarding to see all this payoff and it took years of hard work that nobody saw.
“It doesn’t stop here. I’m gonna keep pushing myself to continue to get better, even if all these Power Five offers come, that still doesn’t mean anything. I still gotta prove myself every day.”
When asked to describe himself as a player, it didn’t take long for Hale to name-drop a former Clemson standout. He grew up watching Isaiah Simmons, who is the sole reason why he wears No. 11. If Hale could really pick one word to describe his game, it would be versatile.
If you cut on Hale’s tape, you’ll see that he has varsity game film at defensive end, middle linebacker, strongside linebacker, weakside linebacker. This past season, he played a majority of nickel, free safety and strong safety.
“If you seriously cut on my tape, you’ll see that I can make plays from any position,” Hale said. “It doesn’t matter. I have very good athletic ability and I’m very explosive.”
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