A local standout specialist was back on campus at Clemson – his dream school – this summer.
Greenville (S.C.) High School’s Thomas Guerrero, a talented punter/kicker prospect in the class of 2024, returned to Tiger Town for the Dabo Swinney Camp in June after visiting Death Valley for the spring game back in April.
On both occasions, the high school junior was able to spend time with Bill Spiers, the Tigers’ director of special teams.
“I spoke to Coach Spiers at Clemson while I was there (at camp), and he was an amazing coach,” Guerrero told The Clemson Insider recently. “I loved talking to him, and he seemed like an amazing coach and he was so fun to talk too, and I had so much fun punting and kicking at the camp. I went on a spring game visit to Clemson where I first met Coach Spiers and I had a blast. It was an awesome experience and I hope to go back soon for a visit.”
Guerrero is rated as a 4.5-star punter and 4-star kicker by ProKicker.com. As a sophomore last season, he went 4-of-4 on field goal tries and 42-of-43 on extra point attempts while only handling field goal and PAT duties and not doing any punting due to an injury.
“I didn’t want to risk injuring it more, so this year I’m good to go,” he said. “Got off a back injury recently, so I’ll punt and kick.”
Guerrero describes himself as both a punt and field goal specialist, and thinks Clemson will be looking at him more as a punter but also as a field goal kicker.
“I had a pretty good day doing both at Clemson,” he said. “I think punting would stand out more and then field goals based off of how I did at the camp and how I’m doing now throughout the summer. Punting has been a strength through national ranking camps, college camps, and I think that’s my main specialty. My field goals were very consistent last year in season as well, hopefully I can have great season this year doing both.”
Guerrero, who also camped at Auburn in June along with camping at Clemson for the first time, hopes to begin building stronger bonds with college coaches come Sept. 1 when coaches can start actively reaching out to junior prospects in the 2024 class such as himself.
“I went to Auburn’s football camp and won the punt competition for the specialist camp, and I went to Clemson and had a solid punt showing,” he said. “So hopefully by September 1st I will get to make a better connection with the coaches since you can start talking to them.”
Guerrero would love to have the opportunity to get coached by Swinney and Spiers in college, and there’s plenty about Swinney’s program that appeals to him.
“Clemson has everything that I would want in a program, starting off with the coaches,” he said. “I would be so thankful to be coached under Coach Swinney and Coach Spiers. … Another thing that stands out is the school and football program overall. I’ve heard great things about the school and I love watching the Tigers play on Saturday, and a lot of my cousins have gone to Clemson and some are there now, so everything I have heard has been great.”
“It’s also close to home,” he continued. “I live in Greenville, S.C., and go to Greenville High School, so it’s close to where I live which makes it feel like home.”
Receiving an offer from Clemson – and having the chance to suit up for the Tigers in the future – would be a dream come true for the strong-legged local talent from Clemson’s backyard.
“Clemson has always been my childhood dream school,” he said, “and I would love nothing more than an opportunity to play for them.”
Come out to support Clemson softball at Dear Old Clemson’s second event which is set for August 27 at the Madren Conference Center. Clemson returns one of the top teams in the nation and adds some new talent to the mix. If you sign up for certain club levels you get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events or purchase your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.
