Tag: Dante Reno

South Carolina QB commit takes shot at Clemson

South Carolina’s quarterback commitment took what appeared to be a shot at Clemson while making a pitch to fellow prospects about why they should jump on board with the Gamecocks. The Loomis Chaffee School (Windsor, Conn.) four-star quarterback …

South Carolina’s quarterback commitment took what appeared to be a shot at Clemson while making a pitch to fellow prospects about why they should jump on board with the Gamecocks.

The Loomis Chaffee School (Windsor, Conn.) four-star quarterback Dante Reno, who committed to South Carolina in early July, says “South Carolina is a place where they have been at the top before,” and he mentioned “getting back to that point” in his pitch.

Reno also said the Gamecocks have “the best fan base in the country,” adding that “South Carolina, it’s the place down there,” and “it’s not Clemson, it’s not any other school — it’s South Carolina.”

“My pitch, it’s kind of normal, it’s kind of real,” Reno said, via The Spurs Up Show. “It’s the same pitch the staff gave me. South Carolina is a place where they have been at the top before. They haven’t been there in a little bit, but just being able to get back to that… and obviously the fans, you guys all want them to be back at the top. We have the best fan base in the country, and you can see that on Twitter, in their game days and all that stuff. So, just getting back to that point.

“And obviously South Carolina, it’s the place down there. It’s not Clemson, it’s not any other school – it’s South Carolina. There’s no pro team, so just that fan base, that love that you’re going to get at South Carolina, especially with the top-five facilities, Williams-Brice Stadium and all that stuff’s just adding on to it. But just being able to play with a new staff, a young staff that’s going to be there too. Coach Beamer’s not going anywhere, which is another huge thing that I think recruits need to look more into nowadays.”

Reno camped at Clemson this summer but doesn’t have an offer from the Tigers. He is the No. 17 quarterback and No. 246 overall prospect in the 2024 class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

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Swinney Camp Notebook: Day 4, Morning Session

The Clemson Insider was back on hand for Day 4 of the Dabo Swinney Camp on Saturday, June 11. Here are our notes and observations from the morning session of Saturday’s Swinney Camp. As expected, Woodland (Dorchester, S.C.) four-star tackle Kam …

The Clemson Insider was back on hand for Day 4 of the Dabo Swinney Camp on Saturday, June 11. Here are our notes and observations from the morning session of Saturday’s Swinney Camp.

  • As expected, Woodland (Dorchester, S.C.) four-star tackle Kam Pringle was back on campus for an unofficial visit Saturday. Pringle didn’t participate in Saturday’s morning session. He camped at Clemson last summer and was among the first batch of rising juniors to pick up an offer when Clemson formally turned the page to offering prospects in the 2024 class.
  • Mountain View High School (Lawrenceville, Ga.) four-star defensive end Justin Greene — the nation’s No. 2 defensive lineman in the 2024 class, per 247Sports —impressed yet again. Greene will be here all three days and has certainly looked like the offer-worthy candidate we pinpointed him to be.
  • We were really impressed with the two marquee gunslinger prospects on campus: The Loomis Chaffee School’s (Windsor, CT.) Dante Reno and Hodgenville (Ky.) Larue County’s Cutter Boley. 
  • Reno — a four-star class of 2024 recruit — has been on offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter’s radar for quite some time now. As has Boley — a class of 2025 recruit with offers from Kentucky, Missouri, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, West Virginia and others – who made an unofficial visit on April 8 and was back on campus Friday.
  • So, it came as no surprise to us when Streeter paid careful attention to every detail concerning Reno and Boley. Even with Clemson’s quarterback board shifting in the direction of Willis (Texas) five-star DJ Lagway and Providence Day School (Charlotte, N.C) five-star Jadyn Davis, that didn’t prevent Reno from throwing in front of Streeter and Swinney for the second consecutive summer.
  • It’s clear that Clemson is still high on the Fiskdale (MA.) native, who Rivals considers to be the No. 15 quarterback in his class.
  • We were also left impressed by what Grayson’s (Loganville, Ga.) four-star interior offensive lineman Waltclaire Flynn, Jr. (pictured above) had to offer. Flynn isn’t the biggest prospect in terms of size, but his footwork, athleticism, smarts and instincts, immediately jump out. It’s no wonder that Rivals has him pegged as the No. 1 center prospect in the class of 2024. 
  • Back out there for another day of work, Yulee (Fla.) three-star safety Landon Hale continues to look the part. All the tools are there and while his recruitment has seemingly heated it up, he would be one of the more sought-after safeties in the country, if he had another year of game film under his belt.
  • Before the start of Saturday’s Swinney Camp, Director of Special Teams Bill Spiers paid a lot of attention to Cornelius (N.C.) Hough 2024 kicker Nolan Hauser, who was back on campus today. Hauser’s coming off visits to North Carolina, Penn State and Tennessee, while Ohio State stopped by Hough at the end of last month. He’s quickly become one of the more high-profile kickers in the country and already has prior connections to the Clemson program.
  • TCI learned that both Troup County (Lagrange, Ga.) four-star edge rusher Qua Birdsong and four-star safety Noah Dixon will be on campus later this afternoon, Dixon reported an offer from the Tigers last week, while his teammate, Birdsong, is hopeful to add one as well.

Wisconsin football offers four-star 2024 QB Dante Reno

Wisconsin football offers the No. 16 quarterback in the class of 2024:

On Wednesday afternoon, the Wisconsin Badgers offered four-star 2024 quarterback Dante Reno per an announcement on Twitter.

Related: Wisconsin offers four-star 2024 safety Vaboue Toure

The Fiskdale, Mass., native racked up over 2,507 passing yards and 27 total touchdowns in his sophomore season for The Loomis Chaffee School. Reno is currently ranked as the No. 16 QB in the country, and he holds offers from multiple schools including South Carolina, Iowa, Purdue and Minnesota per 247Sports.

The four-star recruit was slated to go to the South Carolina Gamecocks with three crystal ball predictions from 247Sports, but the Badgers have some time to maybe sway him away from the SEC.

Priority QB prospect reflects on return visit to Clemson

Clemson played host to a couple of big-time quarterback prospects last week, including The Loomis Chaffee School’s (Windsor, CT.) four-star Dante Reno The Clemson Insider first detailed Clemson’s interest in Reno back in July, after his first-ever …

Clemson played host to a couple of big-time quarterback prospects last week, including The Loomis Chaffee School’s (Windsor, CT.) four-star Dante Reno 

The Clemson Insider first detailed Clemson’s interest in Reno back in July, after his first-ever visit to campus. Now, he was finally able to make his return visit to campus on Wednesday and took in Clemson’s first padded scrimmage of the spring.

“It was awesome,” Reno said. “It was a good second visit. It was good talking to Coach Swinney and Coach Streeter again. They had a scrimmage that day, so it was good to watch and see how their offense operated.”

Reno’s favorite part of last Wednesday’s visit was watching practice, learning a bunch from what Clemson does offensively, how they operate on offense and how Streeter interacts with his players.

What did Reno hear from the coaching staff while he was on campus?

“I’m one of their couple of top guys that they have,” he said. “I think there’s a couple that are from down there and we’re all going back and throwing again in the summer. It was a good time. I was up there with (Chandler, AZ five-star quarterback) Dylan Raiola, so we kind of got to talk a little bit and see each other. It was good.”

Reno’s first visit to Clemson was this past summer, in which he participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp under Streeter’s direction. He’s built the relationship with Clemson’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, but this was his first time getting to see him coach his players up close and personal.

“It was awesome,” Reno said. “It was cool to see if something went wrong, how’d they react and if they’re doing good, how he’d also react. That was definitely pretty cool to see what they were doing and how he’d interact with the players, not just in a camp setting, but in a practice setting.”

He also had a chance to see Clemson’s quarterbacks in action during the scrimmage.

“They do a lot,” he said. “They do a little bit of under center stuff, they do some gun stuff. They have a good passing game. We watched film on their passing game and all that stuff. They have a pretty good setup for what they need at quarterback right now and what D.J. (Uiagalelei) can produce for them.”

Reno will be back at Clemson in early June.

Speaking of visits, Reno went on a gauntlet of them during his spring break. In addition to Clemson, he visited Georgia, Wake Forest and South Carolina. He also managed to pick up offers from Ole Miss and UCF

“I was actually in a rental car driving from Georgia,” Reno said. “It was good. Obviously, (Ole Miss) has a lot to offer with the offense they run and Coach (Lane) Kiffin and how he’s produced quarterbacks throughout the years.”

The Tigers are definitely up there in his recruitment, even without an offer.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Reno said. “The relationship that me and Coach Streeter have, I think it’s either one of the closest of the top relationships that I have with a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.”

“We’re really comfortable with each other,” he said of his relationship with Streeter, “and he’s always been straight up with me on their whole recruiting process and how slow they’re, what they’re gonna do at quarterback and how they only take one quarterback in a class. It’s been pretty fun.”

They broached the subject of an offer during the visit.

“Yeah, it was a little bit in the meetings,” Reno said. “The biggest thing for him is just like getting out on another visit this summer and see where everything goes from there.”

For Reno, it was pretty cool to see just how much his relationship has blossomed with Clemson in a span of 10 months.

“I’m a lot closer with all the guys,” he added. “I’m pretty close with Cade Klubnik, one of their quarterback commits, who’s actually already there now. It was cool to see Cade practice and just keep building a relationship with them.”

— Photo courtesy of Dante Reno’s Instagram (dreno10)

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Top Clemson QB target sets return visit to campus

The Clemson Insider has learned that a big-time quarterback prospect will be on campus next month. The Loomis Chaffee School’s (Windsor, CT.) Dante Reno will be visiting Clemson on March 16. Reno – a 6-2, 195-pound sophomore – t alked with Brandon …

The Clemson Insider has learned that a big-time quarterback prospect will be on campus next month.

The Loomis Chaffee School’s (Windsor, CT.) Dante Reno will be visiting Clemson on March 16. Reno — a 6-2, 195-pound sophomore — talked with Brandon Streeter on Tuesday night.

He set up a return visit with Clemson’s offensive coordinator and will be making his way to campus, along with his teammate, Olaus Alinen, who is a top-150 offensive lineman in the country for the class of 2023.

TCI previously reported that Reno and Alinen would be making some visits together, but they didn’t officially set a date in stone until Tuesday.

“I’m for sure looking forward to that,” Reno said of the upcoming visit. “It’s another one of those things that they look for, is coming back to campus and hanging around the guys, talking ball with Coach (Streeter) and watching some film. And then I’ll probably be back up again this summer. I’m really excited about that and Olaus is also really excited.”

Reno continues to build his relationship with Streeter. They don’t really talk about football that much when they’re on the phone together, instead, they talk about what’s going on with another, what’s happening at Clemson and things of that nature.

“That’s been really good,” he said of his conversations with Streeter. “He’s a good dude to talk to just about life or anything. I’ll give him a call and we’ll just talk. So, he’s been really good with that. I’m just really excited to go back down and go see him again.”

This will be Reno’s first time on campus since Streeter was elevated to his new role. He participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp this past summer, back when Streeter was strictly the quarterbacks coach and J.P. Losman was still an offensive staffer.

“The biggest thing is to see how he interacts with not just the quarterbacks, but the whole offense, now that he’s the offensive coordinator,” Reno said. “We’ll see how that all goes and then, I’m really excited to see how Cade (Klubnik) plays and how D.J. (Uiagalelei) plays because I’ve known Cade a long time and it’s gonna be pretty exciting to see how does at Clemson. I think he’s gonna kill it.”

Reno, of course, is the son of a Division I head coach in Yale’s Tony Reno, who coached Cade’s older brother, Reed Klubnik, in New Haven from 2016-20.

What else is Dante looking to get out of his upcoming visit?

“I’ve already seen how the players interact with each other at camp and the day before when I went on an unofficial,” he added. “So, obviously, they’re a tight-knit group and they get along really well together. Just being around the guys again and just being around the coaches and Coach Swinney again, just talking ball with all of them and keep getting a better feel for (Clemson).”

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Clemson visits school of big-time offensive lineman Monday

The Clemson Insider has learned that Clemson offensive line coach Thomas Austin would be stopping by the high school of a big-time offensive lineman Monday. Austin was expected to visit The Loomis Chaffee School (Windsor, CT.), which is home to 2023 …

The Clemson Insider has learned that Clemson offensive line coach Thomas Austin would be stopping by the high school of a big-time offensive lineman Monday.

Austin was expected to visit The Loomis Chaffee School (Windsor, CT.), which is home to 2023 four-star offensive tackle Olaus Alinen. 

Clemson has been in contact with Alinen as Austin previously expressed interest in visiting his high school, while offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter followed him on Twitter recently. He’s recently started to get in constant contact with Austin and is hopeful that they can continue to further their relationship. 

While Alinen’s never visited Clemson before, he’s heard a lot about it from his teammate, Dante Reno, who is a priority quarterback target for the Tigers in the 2024 recruiting class.

“He talks a lot about Coach Streeter and getting recruited by them,” he said of Reno,” and he likes them a lot. I am staying with him for spring break and I think we’re gonna visit Clemson together during spring break.”

Alinen confirmed this past weekend that he will be visiting Clemson this spring. He’s excited to get down to Clemson to see what it’s all about.

If you’re asking yourself why Alinen will be staying with Reno and his family during spring break, it’s because he’s originally from Finland. He’s been in the United States for over a year now. 

“It’s been good,” he said. “I’ve been enjoying it. The transition was pretty smooth. I came to the right place. People have been really helpful. It’s been a good transition and it went as well as it could have been.”

He’s been playing football for the past five years. He joined Gridiron Imports, an organization that’s goal is to place international players like Alinen at the prep and college levels. 

How would the big-time offensive lineman describe himself as a player to someone who hasn’t seen him play before?“

I’m patient with my pass sets,” Alinen said. “I’ve got good mirroring skills and it’s hard to get past me in a pass set, to be honest. I didn’t allow a single sack this year. I’m a physical run-blocker. I finish plays, so I can block to the second level. I got a good football IQ. I know what I’m supposed to be doing. I can adjust and I can read the defense(s). Those are my strengths.”

As far as his recruitment is concerned, Alinen acknowledged that he is still weighing his options as he takes his time to build up relationships. Sure, some recruiting services have him pegged as a University of Alabama lean after his recent visit to Tuscaloosa, but he still wants to take his time, take his visits and wait to see what the best choice for him is.

With that being said, what is he looking for in a school at the next level?

“A place that I can play good football, win games, get better against good competition and get developed as a player in the weight room and as a person too,” Alinen said. “Get a good degree and get to study what I want to study and have a school supporting me with my academics a lot. And just a family-type of atmosphere, a place that I feel comfortable at and people that I want to be around for the next 3-4 years.”

Alinen (6-7, 315) holds over 30 scholarship offers and currently ranks as the No. 12 offensive tackle and No. 125 prospect overall nationally in the 2023 recruiting class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

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Big-time QB’s relationship with Streeter goes beyond football

The Clemson Insider recently spoke with the class of 2024 quarterback, who holds a close personal relationship with Clemson’s newly-minted offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter. The two have a bi-weekly standing phone call with one another. The …

The Clemson Insider recently spoke with the class of 2024 quarterback, who holds a close personal relationship with Clemson’s newly-minted offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter.

The two have a bi-weekly standing phone call with one another.

The Loomis Chaffee School’s (Firksdale, MA.) Dante Reno spoke about his conversations with Streeter and his impressions of how he’d fare as an offensive coordinator.

“Obviously, he’s one of the smartest quarterback coaches that I’ve ever talked to,” Reno said. “Since I visited in the summer, I got to work with him and the stuff that he knew and all the stuff that I’ve learned just knowing him and what he brings to the table for their offense is pretty awesome to see. Just the way he coaches the quarterbacks, the way he commands the offense when we were, how he ran the passing circuit at the camp was pretty spectacular to watch and to see.”

How would Reno say their relationship has progressed since this past summer?

“It’s more than football with him,” he said. “That’s what I like about him is he really digs deep into who you are as a person, what your family’s like and I feel like that’s kind of one of the things that I’m gonna look for in a college.”

“I love talking about all the stuff,” Reno added. “To be honest, that’s the reason they’ve been so successful. They just recruit the right kids that aren’t just worried about football, obviously their football first, but when they get off the field, it’s all about family and culture…they just have a strong culture that I think a lot of programs try and strive for, but Clemson does a really good job of maintaining that.”

Reno spoke with Streeter throughout the entirety of the season. They spoke almost every Thursday, so they had an opportunity to speak after most of Clemson’s games this season, which they often talked about.

“They had a lot of injuries on offense and that was kind of the biggest problem they had,” he said. “When they got healthy, they were lights out. If they were healthy the whole season, who knows, they could’ve been playing in the College Football Playoff(s). It was as simple as the injuries and sometimes that happens — they still finished 9-3 — and a 10-win team for some teams is exceptional. But for Clemson, the standard is always a championship.”

A lot of Reno’s games during his sophomore campaign fell on Saturday(s), so he wasn’t able to make a game-day visit at Memorial Stadium this season. He plans on making his return visit to Clemson this spring for spring ball.

“I’m definitely looking forward to getting back there,” Reno said. “Looking forward to going to see a practice. I think my whole family is gonna come. So, I’m looking forward to going to go see practice and just talk to all the coaches again.”

Reno, of course, is the son of Yale head coach, Tony Reno.

He isn’t currently ranked by recruiting services but holds a list of impressive offers from schools like Arizona, Georgia Tech, Houston, Iowa, Kentucky, UMass, Purdue, South Carolina, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and West Virginia.

While Clemson doesn’t offer sophomores, Dante feels that there’s an obvious mutual interest between the two parties. An offer is definitely something he’s going to strive for.

“Whatever I have to do for them, I’m gonna do,” he said. “However long the recruiting process is — it’s their decision at the end of the day — so all I can do is control what I can control on my end and hopefully everything works out.”

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Top QB prospect building special bond with Streeter

Following Clemson’s 27-21 double-overtime loss to N.C. State, this past Saturday, Brandon Streeter went back and watched some film, but he also had a phone call lined up. Clemson’s quarterbacks coach scheduled a call with The Loomis Chaffee School …

Following Clemson’s 27-21 double-overtime loss to N.C. State, this past Saturday, Brandon Streeter went back and watched some film, but he also had a phone call lined up.

Clemson’s quarterbacks coach scheduled a call with The Loomis Chaffee School 2024 QB Dante Reno.

Reno (6-2, 195) is from Fiskdale, MA., but is the starting quarterback for the premiere boarding school in Windsor, CT.

The two chopped it up over the phone on Sunday.

“We talked about the game a little bit,” Reno told The Clemson Insider. “He’s such a cool dude, there’s nothing really I can’t talk about with him. We talked about everything, how my family’s doing, when I’m gonna come up for  a game — we were trying to figure out dates — I’m probably gonna come to the Wake Forest game (on Saturday, Nov. 20) when they play at home.”

Clemson and specifically Streeter’s interest in Reno means everything to him, he said.

“They want to see a whole season of game film,” Reno added. “So, I sent him the first three games we had. They take it really slow, so the more calls we get on with each other, the more we get to know each other. The better I’ll feel with them and the better they’ll feel with me.

“They’re big into relationships. They don’t take a quarterback, just to take a quarterback. They do their research and they don’t miss on many quarterbacks. That’s what I really like about them.”

Reno spent a lot of time with Streeter over the summer at the Dabo Swinney Camp, so has he been able to develop his relationship with Clemson’s QBs coach since then?

“I mean, it’s great,” Reno said regarding his relationship with Streeter. “When we talk, we don’t just talk about football, we talk about everything: life, school, family, his family, what they’re doing in the program, what they’re doing at Clemson. So, it’s not really just about football, trying to get me to be a recruit, it’s kind of just building that relationship to build a bond that you’re not gonna get at another school.”

Clemson’s recent success under center speaks for itself. The Tigers do their homework on the quarterback position on the recruiting trail, and they do it well. While D.J. Uiagalelei’s sophomore season has gotten off to an inconsistent start, he was still a five-star recruit, following in the footsteps of Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson.

Uiagalelei is set to be joined by another five-star quarterback in Westlake (Texas) 2022 QB Cade Klubnik.

Clemson’s history at the quarterback position clearly stands out to Reno.

“It’s awesome. It’s obviously really special to play for Coach Swinney, Coach Streeter, Coach Elliott there,” he said. “I mean you get the best of the best every single day. You play against the best defense in college football and you get coached by the best coaches in college football. Their slogan is ‘The Best is the Standard.’ You really get it when you go there.”

In addition to Clemson, Reno mentions Tennessee, Rutgers, LSU, Ole Miss, Boston College and the 11 schools that have offered him — Arizona, Georgia Tech, Houston, Iowa, Kentucky, UMass, Purdue, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and West Virginia — as the schools currently standing out in his recruitment.

Reno went to see Purdue play UConn on Saturday, Sept. 11. He hasn’t had a Friday night scheduled yet this season, but he’s hoping to get down to Clemson for the Wake Forest game, as mentioned previously.

What is Reno looking forward to about getting back to The Valley?

“It’s gonna be fun. Coach Streeter said that there’s nothing like a Clemson gameday,” Reno said. “He said I just gotta go experience it, soak it all in with the players and what the atmosphere’s like on the campus, how all the students interact with all the players after the game. I just gotta go experience it.”

Streeter was driving home when they were conversing Sunday night, so he’ll go into more of Reno’s film when he gets the chance and the two will get back on the phone together.

With that being said, what type of feedback did Reno get about his game from Streeter and what he wanted to see out of him this season?

“He wanted to see me be really accurate because I think that’s a big key in their offense,” Reno added. “Being accurate, throwing the ball downfield, not turning the ball over and ultimately winning a championship because that’s what you gotta do at the next level.”

Reno predicates his game on two things: his accuracy and his leadership.

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