Tag: Caleb Herring

This talented Tennessee pass-rusher is one of the top players at his position for the 2023 class and continues to hear positive things from Clemson’s coaching staff.

Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Riverdale High School’s Caleb Herring is the No. 4 edge rusher and No. 1 prospect in the state of Tennessee in the Class of 2023, per the 247Sports Composite.

Herring recently had the chance to catch up with The Clemson Insider regarding his current recruitment and what he’s been hearing from Clemson as of late.

While direct contact is limited until Sept. 1, he has kept in touch with Clemson, specifically defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall.

Hall has spoken to him about coming up for some games in The Valley this season.

According to Herring, Hall is a fan of the Tennessee pass rusher’s speed, his elusiveness and how he gets off blocks.

“So far, I feel like I have a pretty good relationship with him,” Herring said of Hall. “When I was talking with him consistently, I felt myself getting closer and closer to him. When I went to Clemson, he gave off a family vibe.”

In addition to Clemson, Herring mentioned the University of Tennessee and Michigan State as schools standing out in his recruitment.

Tennessee currently has a leg up in Herring’s recruitment. While it’s still early on in the process, he characterized Clemson as the No. 2 school, but there are multiple factors that play into that. 

Herring’s older brother, Elijah, became the Volunteers’ first 2022 commit under new head coach Josh Heupel. Beyond that family connection, Caleb is already an in-state prospect, so the Volunteers are certainly using that to their advantage. 

Though, Clemson has a family recruiting approach of its own.

“They give off a family atmosphere,” Herring said regarding Clemson’s recruiting approach. “When I went up there, that’s the first thing they mentioned to me, how they treat each other like family. The coaches put the players first and their families first.”

Right now, Herring is taking a patient approach to his recruitment. He’s waiting for more schools, including Clemson to offer him, before he makes any final decisions. 

“It really shows me that I’m that good of a player,” Herring said when asked what it’s like to be recruited by a program like Clemson. “I’ve always known that I’m a great player, but I didn’t think I’d be getting looked at by Clemson. That’s a great school.”

Obviously, Herring would love to have that Clemson offer, but he said that he doesn’t mind waiting until the end of his junior year or the beginning of his senior year.

“As long as I get to know them before that offer, then yeah, I’ll be alright,” he added.

Speaking of his junior season, Herring is expecting big things.

“I’m looking for this year to be my best year,” he said. “I set high goals for myself, like getting a whole lot more tackles than I did last year, a lot more sacks than last year and just a big leader overall.”

Herring is a self-described leader, who puts his team first. He’s a physical player, who can be placed anywhere on the field and he’ll produce. He constitutes playing long — knowing how to use his size — as one of his strengths, in addition to being able to drop back and coverage. 

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One of the nation’s top edge rushers, Caleb Herring, had heard a lot of great things about Clemson heading into his visit there last month.

After experiencing the environment and spending time with the football program’s coaching staff, the four-star defensive end/outside linebacker and top-ranked player in the state of Tennessee for the 2023 class certainly didn’t leave campus disappointed by the visit.

“Something I was looking for going into the visit was if the coaches and the environment was as good as advertised, and it turns out I wasn’t disappointed at all,” Herring told The Clemson Insider. “I was comfortable as soon as I got to the school, and the coaches played a huge part in it.”

Herring, a rising junior from Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., felt right at home while hanging out with defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall and the Tigers’ staff.

“I talked to Coach Hall, and after I met with him, he introduced me to the defensive coaching staff,” Herring said. “I was really impressed with them, they made me feel like family.”

The message that Hall and Clemson’s staff conveyed to Herring during the visit resonated with him.

“They were telling me how it’s always family first when it comes to Clemson football,” he said. “They were saying that football is important, but family is more important, and that if anything were to happen, they’d always be there for the players, and that caught my eye.”

Herring is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Volunteer State, No. 4 edge defender and No. 61 overall prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports. The 6-foot-6, 210-pounder has racked up more than a dozen scholarship offers, with his list featuring schools such as Tennessee, Michigan State, Michigan, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas, Baylor, Louisville and Virginia.

Although Herring doesn’t yet have an offer from Clemson, he has been staying in touch and building a good relationship with Hall, and Herring understands how the Tigers handle the recruiting process and that he has to bide his time for a potential opportunity to play for them.

“When I would call Coach Hall, he’d sometimes start the convo off saying that he’s not offering or anything yet, but if Clemson were to offer me, it would be big for me,” Herring said. “I’m being patient and waiting. I hope they offer soon cause I honestly like them a lot.”

Clemson, Tennessee and Michigan State, Herring added, are the schools sticking out to him the most at this point in his recruiting process. Herring’s older brother, Elijah, is committed to Tennessee as part of its 2022 class, and Caleb feels the Vols have been recruiting him hard too.

Caleb said he definitely intends to return to Clemson for another visit at some point down the road, possibly for a game this season. He and his mother are tentatively planning to go to Michigan State for its cookout on July 31, though that visit isn’t set in stone. Along with Clemson, Caleb made an unofficial visit to Vanderbilt in June, while he camped at Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee last month.

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