Tag: Graham Uter

First Clemson gameday visit going to be hard to top for rising Alabama lineman

A fast-rising offensive lineman from the Yellowhammer State traveled to Tiger Town for an unofficial visit earlier this month. Daphne (Ala.) Bayside Academy junior Graham Uter – a 6-foot-5, 275-pound prospect in the class of 2024 – made his way to …

A fast-rising offensive lineman from the Yellowhammer State traveled to Tiger Town for an unofficial visit earlier this month.

Daphne (Ala.) Bayside Academy junior Graham Uter — a 6-foot-5, 275-pound prospect in the class of 2024 — made his way to Clemson for the Louisiana Tech game on Saturday, Sept. 17.

“It was really cool to get to meet all the coaches,” Uter told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview recently. “Especially getting to know Coach (Thomas) Austin and Coach (Brandon) Thomas more. The facilities were really cool. It’s probably one of the best facilities I’ve ever seen. The campus was awesome.”

Uter got to eat a pregame meal with Clemson’s offensive line coach and Thomas, who is currently a graduate assistant on Dabo Swinney’s staff. Uter said that they discussed his recruiting stage, how it’s all going to work from here on out and what they’re recruiting him for. 

“For sure,” Uter said when asked if he felt like he strengthened his relationship with Clemson’s staff. “I got to have pretty long conversations with them during the pregame time. Coach Brandon Thomas actually took me around on a tour of the facilities and we met up with Coach Austin.”

According to Uter, both Austin and Thomas showed him how they run the offensive linemen at Clemson. He got to know both coaches pretty well and even got to meet Austin’s kids and his family, which Uter said was “pretty cool.”

Following the pregame festivities with the coaching staff, Uter finally got to experience his first college football game day visit.

“It’s cool to see how the fans all love Clemson,” Uter said of the gameday atmosphere in The Valley. “They’re all fans and nice people up there. It was cool to see how the players, whenever they were warming up, how locked in and focused they were. How important it is to all these coaches — they were all getting hyped and getting their players ready to play.”

Needless to say, his first experience in The Valley set the bar relatively high. 

“I feel like it’s gonna be hard to top that,” he said. “That was one of the cooler experiences in my life. I definitely want to go back this spring and tour the campus more. That would be cool.”

As far as other visits are concerned, Uter is trying to line up gameday visits to Troy and UAB, but right now, he’s focused on Friday nights and an important junior season

“It’s pretty much more local stuff,” Uter said in regards to taking potential visits. “Clemson’s just one of my favorite schools that I’ve been to. It’s an immediate yes whenever they ask me to come for a game day visit.”

Uter feels like he’s “definitely” on Clemson’s recruiting board and that the Tigers will continue to evaluate him as he continues to progress throughout his junior season.

“They told me that if I get some good game film out and I keep doing what they want to see, they’re gonna get me back up there in the spring and I’ll come around the campus on the golf cart and stuff like that,” he said. “That’s what Coach Thomas Austin told me.”

Since Sept. 1, Uter has heard from programs like Troy, UAB and Memphis, in addition to Clemson. He mentioned that a couple of other schools have called his head coach and notified him that they would be recruiting Uter going forward.

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

Alabama lineman hopes he’s ‘making progress’ with Clemson, ‘would love’ to visit Death Valley

Dabo Swinney’s camp was the most helpful camp of the summer for this fast-rising Alabama defensive lineman. Daphne (Alabama) Bayside Academy’s Graham Uter – a 6-foot-5, 275-pound junior in the class of 2024 -participated in the June 1 session of …

Dabo Swinney’s camp was the most helpful camp of the summer for this fast-rising Alabama defensive lineman.

Daphne (Alabama) Bayside Academy’s Graham Uter — a 6-foot-5, 275-pound junior in the class of 2024 —participated in the June 1 session of Swinney Camp — and feels like he can implement what he learned into his game for this season.

“I had a good time there,” Uter told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview last month. “I learned a lot there from Coach (Brandon) Streeter, Coach (Thomas) Austin, Coach (Nick) Eason and Coach (Lemanski) Hall. It was real organized and it opened my eyes to the college level and it made me realize that it’s possible for me to get there. It was just a great time.”

Was there anything in particular that stood out to Uter about his time at Clemson earlier this summer?

“It was a very organized camp and the competition was real high,” he said. “Probably the best competition that I had all summer there. The coaches and players were real involved with the camp, which was real nice.”

Uter worked out with the defensive line and said that he received some “good feedback” from the likes of Eason and Hall. They taught him a lot during his session at Swinney Camp, especially relating to his quickness and using his hands, knees and hips.

“It was just a great experience overall to talk to them,” Uter added. “They were teaching me stuff, pointers and things like that. What to keep working on to get film out. They were really good coaches. They were really involved with the camp and I really thought that they taught the stuff well. And they were real active with the players. They were great.”

As it relates to Clemson, Uter did inform us that one of the Tigers’ recruiting staffers told him that he’d be added to the defensive linemen recruiting board, which he said was “awesome to hear.”

“The recruiting coordinator from Clemson sent me a prospect questionnaire a couple of weeks ago,” Uter recently said in a message. “So, I hope I’m making progress with them.”

In addition to Clemson, Uter camped at schools like LSU, Troy, UAB, Auburn, Ole Miss, Alabama and Mississippi College. 

He said that this summer’s experiences opened up his eyes to just how important recruiting is. Since then, Uter has been keeping in touch with coaches from Troy and UAB. He feels like this season will be big for him and his recruitment, considering that it’s his junior season. Sept. 1 will obviously be an indicator of what schools are interested in Uter going forward.

“I feel like this is my year to show all the (college) coaches that I’m a good player and that I deserve this,” Uter said. “And to show them that I’m worth college football.”

Getting a better feel for Uter and his game, he’s a big guy in the trenches, who can play the 3-tech (twitchier interior defender), nose tackle and defensive end. Not only is he tough and physical, but he’s good with his hands.

While Uter is focused on his junior campaign, he is also keeping an eye on potential game day visits. A visit to Memorial Stadium for a Clemson game day this fall could be in the cards.

“I would love to do that,” he said. “That would be amazing. I love that campus.”

— Photo for this article courtesy of @graham_uter on Twitter.

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 as 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.