Tag: Ben Cutter

One talented linebacker prospect who traveled to Clemson to participate in the second day of the Dabo Swinney Camp on June 2, was Ben Cutter — a 6-foot-1, 215-pound three-star rising senior out of Denver’s (N.C.) East Lincoln High School.

“It was good,” Cutter told The Clemson Insider regarding his camp experience. “I did pretty good on the field work stuff. I could’ve done better on the 1-on-1s, but that’s not something we practice a ton at our school, so that’s something I need to work on. Overall, I did pretty good on the field.”

What type of feedback did Cutter get from Wesley Goodwin?

“He said that he’s got a couple of people ahead of me right now as far as offers go,” Cutter said of Clemson’s defensive coordinator/linebackers coach. “But, he said if something falls through or something changes, he’ll call and let me know.”

Cutter has no regrets and felt like he left everything on the field.

Clemson has only two open linebacker scholarships in the class of 2023, however, Mill Creek (Hoschton, Ga.) four-star Jamal Anderson verbally pledged to the Tigers on Monday and with Denmark (Alpharetta, Ga.) Dee Crayton announcing his commitment date for this Saturday.

Everything points to Clemson filling both of those scholarship spots after this weekend.

While Cutter would love to have an offer from Clemson in hand, that level of honesty from Goodwin and college coaches around the country is probably the most important thing to him throughout his recruitment process.

In the meantime, Cutter camped at the University of South Carolina and visited App State on June 8. He also has an official visit(s) set for Louisville (June 21) and West Virginia (June 23).

“I’m very happy right now with where I’m at the schools I’m visiting this month,” Cutter said regarding his current recruitment. “I think I’ll definitely be happy going to any of those places. I would really love that offer from Clemson, being there at the camp, but I’m wanting to commit pretty soon — probably next month (July) or maybe later.”

Clemson continues to impress a fast-rising Carolinas linebacker who was on campus on Saturday, March 12 for the Tigers’ underclassmen day.

East Lincoln (Denver, N.C.) 2023 inside linebacker Ben Cutter had been keeping close contact with Wesley Goodwin, who invited him to come up earlier this month, for what was his first unofficial visit that wasn’t tied to a camp or gameday trip.

“It was great,” Cutter told The Clemson Insider Sunday. “I got to meet Coach Goodwin and I really like him as a person. He’s a great guy. We had a position meeting and he knows what he’s talking about. He’s very smart with football and how he sets things up on the field. Clemson’s always just a great place to be. A lot of my core values are the same as Coach Swinney’s and he implements them into the program, which is just amazing being there.”

This was Cutter’s first time meeting Clemson’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in person.

“It was cool,” he said. “I got to talk to (Coach Goodwin) a little bit after the visit, one-on-one. It’s good being able to see him in person because that helps build the relationship rather than just texting each other.

“I definitely learned a lot about their defense and Coach Goodwin is good at teaching. A lot of people told me that his best attribute is that he’s a great teacher and I could tell just by being in the meeting that he’s a great teacher. The way in which he sets up the defensive calls and defensive plays, it just makes it easier to learn some of the calls they use and the way they correlate together.”

Cutter likes the defense and feels like he could fit in pretty well, he said.

Goodwin has only seen Cutter move around a little bit, but he wants to see the fast-rising linebacker participate in this upcoming summer’s Dabo Swinney Camp before pulling the trigger on an offer.

“We talked and he said that they’re interested,” Cutter said of a potential offer.

Cutter went to a Rivals camp in Charlotte (N.C.) a couple of weeks ago and he got some film out of him doing some one-on-ones in position drills. Cutter feels like the film he put out, which helped him earn the camps’ linebacker MVP, is really good and is hopeful that it’ll start sparking some interest from some high-profile programs

A day later, he picked up an ACC offer from the University of Louisville.

“It meant a lot,” he said. “Obviously for the coaches, I have a lot of respect for them because a lot of the Power Five programs like to wait around for the first (school) to offer, then they’ll start doing it. I definitely respect Coach (Derek) Nicholson — the inside linebackers coach — he’s the one who offered me. I respect him a lot for being the first one and I think it’s a big step for me to get my name out there more.”

Cutter wants to get back to Clemson soon, but he’s not sure when he’ll go because he has some visits that he has to make dates for that he hasn’t been on yet. Cutter will be visiting Louisville and South Carolina soon, as well as visiting App State on Saturday, April 9.

While he won’t be able to make Clemson’s spring game, he indicated that he’ll definitely camp at Clemson this summer.

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Clemson is set to play host to a fast-rising linebacker from the Tar Heel State this weekend.

East Lincoln (Denver, N.C.) 2023 inside linebacker Ben Cutter will be on campus this Saturday, March 12, and he confirmed that via Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.

“We’ve just been talking about how I’ve been training and stuff and what camps I’ll be going to,” Cutter told The Clemson Insider last month. “I’m going to Clemson for spring practice at some point, I just don’t know which one I’m going to yet. We’ve just been talking about stuff like that.”

Obviously, we now know that Cutter will be at Clemson this weekend and will have the chance to meet with Clemson’s co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Cutter told us Wednesday that he’s excited to meet Goodwin for the first time in person this weekend.

“It’s good to have a defensive coordinator reaching out to me rather than someone that just recruits my area because it means more,” Cutter said of his relationship with Goodwin. “But yeah, he seems like a really good guy.”

Goodwin had a chance to watch Cutter’s film and told him that he had a lot of really good clips on there. 

Right now, Cutter is working on a lot of speed training. He’s looking to drop a little bit of weight to around 210-pounds, so he can run his fastest at camps. Cutter wants to outwork his competition and earn a linebacker spot at some schools.

Cutter is starting to receive a lot more attention than he previously was. He’s made two visits to Chapel Hill in as many months and was at West Virginia at the beginning of last month. Since January, Cutter has earned offers from Charlotte, James Madison, Old Dominion, Gardner Webb and Tulane.

It’s only a matter of time before he blows up and earns offers from Power 5 schools. In Cutter’s personal opinion, he feels like they’re waiting to see his speed, which is something he is working on improving right now and currently training for.

“I’m hoping when they see that number, it’ll bring a lot more attention,” he said.

Regardless, he currently has the attention of Goodwin and Clemson, who he’ll get a chance to impress this weekend.

“They check off all my boxes, as far as Christian family atmosphere,” Cutter said. “That’s really what I’m looking for in a college and whoever can help me reach my full potential in football. I think Clemson can do that and also, the coaching staff is amazing. I really like all of them and had a chance to meet them at the game-day visits. It’s a great program.”

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!