We hope everyone had a great weekend.
It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report.
Clemson making a move with Peach State TE
Clemson’s tight end recruiting in the class of 2024 is only getting started and a name worth monitoring is Carrollton (Ga.) four-star Caleb Odom (pictured above).
The Clemson Insider recently caught up with Odom, who was one of the top prospects in attendance for Clemson’s 30-20 win over NC State at Death Valley on Saturday, Oct. 1.
“It was crazy,” Odom said in a phone interview recently regarding his visit. “The atmosphere was just electric. It was just insane. I just felt like the crowd was crazy. I don’t know, I’ve never seen something like the pregame, how they roll out of the buses and run down the hill. That kind of stood out to me, definitely the pregame. I just felt like the fans were cheering nonstop. I just felt like it was crazy.”
Odom has been in constant contact with Kyle Richardson since Sept. 1. It was Clemson’s tight ends coach who extended Odom the invitation to the NC State game and made sure he spoke with him at length during his first trip to The Valley.
Odom said that his relationship with Richardson is one of the better ones that he currently has and that it was nice to finally put a name to a face.
“He was just telling me that they love what they see on film and stuff,” Odom recalled of his conversation with Richardson. “He was telling me that they take the offer process really slowly. He was gonna give me a call later (last) week, so hopefully it’s good news. He was just telling me that they were glad to have me down.”
According to Odom, Richardson said that he was an offer-worthy prospect.
“Hopefully they will offer soon, though, I would really love it,” he said regarding a potential offer from Clemson. “Just knowing how they treat the players outside of football… Just knowing I can be in an environment like that, especially during gamedays with the crowd. A place like Death Valley is just crazy.”
Tigers making a move with 5-star linebacker
It’s no longer a secret that Clemson is one of the favorite schools of Jadon Perlotte.
The class of 2025 five-star linebacker out of Buford (Ga.) recently made his first-ever gameday visit to Death Valley for Clemson’s top-10 showdown against NC State.
“It was great,” Perlotte recently told The Clemson Insider regarding his visit. “That’s the most fans I’ve ever seen and we got to run down the hill. I didn’t see any open spots.”
Perlotte said that he has a great relationship with most of Clemson’s staff and spent a lot of time around the Tigers’ defensive assiatnts before and after last Saturday’s game.
What is it about Clemson that appeals to a prospect like Perlotte?
“The culture,” he said. “I sit in there and listen for hours, listening to Coach Dabo preach about the system and how they do things differently. They’re a family team and that’s all they care about is the person beside them. That’s what I pay attention to.”
Perlotte said that his mom has been helping him plan recruiting trips and that she really loves Clemson, so he probably has to make it to three more games or so down there.
Right now, Perlotte is patiently waiting for an offer, one that he’s hopeful will come sooner than later.
5-star OL, nation’s top-ranked ’25 prospect high on the Tigers
Clemson recently played host to the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 class regardless of position, per multiple recruiting services.
Providence Day School (Charlotte, N.C.) five-star offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. attended the Tigers’ 30-20 victory over NC State at Death Valley on Oct. 1.
It wasn’t his first time in Tiger Town, as he visited twice in the spring. However, it was Sanders’ first gameday visit to Clemson, and he detailed his experience in a recent interview with The Clemson Insider.
We’ll publish our full story from the interview with Sanders in the morning, but here’s some of what the 6-foot-7, 250-pound sophomore had to say about the visit:
“The Clemson game, that was definitely a big game for me. I enjoyed myself a lot. The atmosphere with them playing NC State – it was a top-10 matchup – was really cool. That was a really cool experience. I got to experience the new LED lights in the stadium and the new scoreboard. Those two additions to the stadium really made the experience more fun.
“But overall, I had a great time. When I got to the stadium, I was able to meet all the coaches and all the players, too. … Then also they let us go to the top of the hill for the pregame for them to run down the hill. That was definitely the coolest experience ever, just to experience how steep that hill really is, because I always hear it’s steeper than it looks. … So, I enjoyed that a lot, and just the experience overall – the atmosphere, the fans, the facility – it was really cool. So, I enjoyed the whole thing.”
Sanders made the trip to Tiger Town with his parents, and he said “they enjoyed it a lot,” particularly the family atmosphere. For Sanders personally, it was the atmosphere and coaching staff that stood out to him the most.
The Tigers typically don’t offer prospects until the summer before their junior year, so according to Sanders, the coaches told him to stay patient and “trust the process” with them – “just do what you’ve got to do in the classroom and on the field and just keep being who I am,” he said.
Sanders said he has also been to South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and East Carolina recently. He’s looking to check out NC State and Georgia before season’s end but doesn’t have any visits scheduled as of now.
He intends to return to Clemson this offseason, and perhaps even again this season, in order to further his relationship with head coach Dabo Swinney and offensive line coach Thomas Austin.
As for where Clemson stands with Sanders right now, the Tigers have certainly made a strong early impression.
“Clemson’s definitely one of my favorite schools, for sure,” he said.
In-state OL target impressed by ‘amazing’ Death Valley atmosphere
Another big-time offensive line prospect from the Carolinas who took in the clash between Clemson and NC State is Josiah Thompson, a four-star tackle in the 2024 class from Dillon (S.C.) High School.
The 6-foot-6, 280-pound junior traveled to campus with his parents and little brother.
It was the family’s first time attending a game at Death Valley.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” Thompson told The Clemson Insider, “and it’s awesome to see how much the fans have love towards the players and team.”
Thompson visited Georgia for its game vs. Auburn this past Saturday and is set to be in Knoxville for Tennessee’s game against Alabama this Saturday.
We asked Thompson – who received an offer from Clemson back in June – where the Tigers stand with him right now following the visit, and he said, “I can see myself playing for the Clemson Tigers.”
Thompson is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Palmetto State for the 2024 class by 247Sports, while he is ranked as high as the No. 71 overall prospect in his class by the 247Sports Composite.
Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.
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