Tag: ian reed

4-star Clemson OL commit: ‘Tiger Town is a special place’

Ian Reed returned to Tiger Town earlier this month to take in Clemson’s 30-20 win over NC State on Saturday, Oct. 1. The four-star Clemson offensive line commit in the 2023 class certainly didn’t leave campus disappointed after experiencing a night …

Ian Reed returned to Tiger Town earlier this month to take in Clemson’s 30-20 win over NC State on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The four-star Clemson offensive line commit in the 2023 class certainly didn’t leave campus disappointed after experiencing a night game at Death Valley during what was a top-10 matchup between the Tigers and Wolfpack.

“Tiger Town is a special place,” Reed told The Clemson Insider. “I’ve never been to an actual night game at Clemson before, so this was my first game going, and it exceeded all my expectations just from a fan and atmosphere standpoint.”

Reed, a senior offensive tackle from Vandegrift High School in Austin, Texas, committed to the Tigers on June 7 of this year.

Being back on campus for the NC State game simply reinforced to Reed why he chose Clemson over numerous other scholarship offers.

“It just feels like home to me,” he said. “I felt like I made a great choice of coming here, and I can see why it’s such a special place. You’ve got people lining up like six miles outside the stadium for tailgates, and it’s this crazy, awesome atmosphere. The tradition, as well, and just how loud the crowd is and how supportive the Clemson fans are – I mean, we’ve got the best fans in the country, honestly. Out of all the places I visited before I committed to Clemson, definitely a huge difference.”

During the NC State game visit, Reed was able to catch up with basically the entire offensive coaching staff, as well as some defensive staffers.

What was the message to Reed from coaches like head man Dabo Swinney and offensive line coach Thomas Austin?

“Just enjoy your senior year, basically,” Reed said. “Enjoy your time basically and just enjoy those little moments with your teammates and your family since I’m coming in early, and focus on your goals for whatever your team wants to accomplish. We just had normal conversations. Nothing football related – it’s like life and all that.”

The visit also afforded Reed the opportunity to spend more time with fellow commits in Clemson’s 2023 class as they continue to build a strong bond while preparing to come in together.

“It’s a very tight-knit group,” Reed said. “We’ve definitely gotten to see each other at a couple games and all that. I got to see most of the guys at the NC State game, and they’re all doing great. We’re all excited to be teammates and brothers with one other, and I can’t wait to come in January and start working and grinding and working with this class.”

Reed is ready to make things official when he signs with Clemson in December before enrolling early in January.

“It’s gonna be an awesome three to four years,” he said. “I can’t wait, and I can’t wait to get to work and get to learn the offense and just put my head down and hopefully earn a spot.”

There’s a lot that excites Reed about going to Clemson, joining Swinney’s program and being coached on the offensive line by a former NFL O-lineman in Austin.

“Just the tradition in the program of winning, the family aspect too and life after football, and the alumni are just amazing,” he said. “Amazing people, and they’re always positive and always great to meet.”

“I love Coach Swinney, too,” Reed continued. “I would run through a wall for him. He is definitely a man of character and a man of discipline and a man of honor. So is Coach Austin, and I’m really excited about Coach Austin because he’s kind of new to the scene, but he has all that NFL knowledge and all the experience that he had at Clemson and in the NFL, so he knows how it’s going to go. So, I’m excited for all that, too.”

Reed is ranked as a top-150 national prospect by Rivals, which considers him the nation’s No. 14 offensive tackle and No. 147 overall prospect in the 2023 class.

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Four-star OL recruit flips back to Tigers

Clemson lands its second offensive tackle of the 2023 recruiting class with Owen’s re-commitment on Tuesday.

A 2023 recruit has decided to stay with Clemson following his decision last week to pursue other options.

Four-star offensive tackle Zechariah Owens announced via Twitter on Tuesday that he had  re-committed to the Tigers despite decommiting last week due to family reasons prior to his visit at Florida State for their matchup with Clemson. The Peach State native had originally verbally committed to the Tigers back on July 5 after attending junior day last spring.

“After a long time thinking, praying and reconsidering my family and I have decided that I will stay and continue to be committed to Clemson University,” Owens said. “I want to thank the Clemson coaching staff and my fellow teammates for sticking beside me through this and also I want to thank everyone for reaching out to my family and I through this process, but with that being said I’m 1000% ALLIN #GOTIGERS”

The 6-foot-7, 365 pound early enrollee out of McDonough, Georgia (Eagle’s Landing Christian) is a huge addition to the Tigers 2023 class, becoming the No. 20 overall commit and the second offensive tackle (Ian Reed) to join the Tigers latest class, which is currently ranked eighth overall in the nation by 247 Sports.

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Big-time Texas OL loving life as a Clemson commit

Ian Reed is loving life as a Clemson commitment. The big-time offensive lineman and consensus four-star prospect from Vandegrift High School (Austin, Texas) gave his verbal pledge to Dabo Swinney’s program earlier this summer, and he couldn’t be …

Ian Reed is loving life as a Clemson commitment.

The big-time offensive lineman and consensus four-star prospect from Vandegrift High School (Austin, Texas) gave his verbal pledge to Dabo Swinney’s program earlier this summer, and he couldn’t be happier about his college decision.

“It’s been awesome – just nothing but good things from the community that supports me,” Reed said to The Clemson Insider recently of being on board with the Tigers. “They’re just amazed how I’m committed to Clemson. I love Clemson, and Clemson’s going to be home forever.”

The bond between the commits in Clemson’s 2023 class has been getting stronger, and Reed expects it to become even tighter when he and many of the others arrive on campus as midyear enrollees in January.

“It’s been growing, for sure,” he said. “We’ve got to spend more time with each other, but most of the commits are probably coming in early, so we’ll get to spend a lot more time around each other. For sure I love my other future teammates. They have the same goals as I do and the same mindset as I do, and we want to go win championships and just continue the success Clemson has consistently had.”

As for Reed’s relationship with Clemson’s coaching staff, it continues to develop as well as he communicates with them regularly, including offensive line coach Thomas Austin.

“Just talking to them like probably once a week,” Reed said. “I know it’s the dead period right now, but we’ve just been talking over text message, and sending me love and support and just talking to me about life. I love Coach Austin. He’s a great guy, great coach.”

The last time Reed traveled to Tiger Town was in late July, when he attended the All In Cookout and had a blast with his fellow recruits and future coaches at Clemson’s signature summer recruiting event.

“Everyone enjoyed it,” he said. “It was super fun just seeing each other again, hanging out with the coaches again, just having a great time with each other basically, seeing the families again and having a good time relaxing and playing games and all that. It was awesome to me.”

Reed’s parents and youngest brother accompanied him to the cookout, and his mother came away impressed after her first experience at Clemson.

“It was my mom’s first time visiting campus, and she loves it,” he said.

Clemson beat out schools like Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Alabama and Texas, among others on Reed’s list of around 30 scholarship offers, to land his commitment back on June 7.

The consistency of Swinney’s program, and the coaching staff he has put in place, are a couple of things that played a big role in Reed’s decision to be a Tiger.

“Just the continued success that Clemson has, the vision that they have for you as a man of life and just as a player too, that really stuck with me,” he said. “I love how the coaches are very honest and transparent, and they’ll love you hard and they’ll coach you hard at the same time. I just really like that. With the new staff Coach Swinney got, this is a really great staff, development staff too. They like to develop you, and he’s got high-quality coaches. So, I’m really excited about that.”

Reed was the first offensive line commit in Clemson’s 2023 class, and he has since been joined by a couple of other big-time O-line prospects – Permian High School (Odessa, Texas) four-star Harris Sewell and Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (McDonough, Ga.) four-star Zechariah Owens.

Each of them is ranked as a top-150 national prospect, regardless of position, by at least one of the major recruiting services.

“I’m really excited to work with (Owens) and Harris,” Reed said. “They’re very talented O-linemen, too. They’re physical, they’re mean, they’re fast, they’re agile, they’re mobile, and they’re very good people, too, and very good people to work with. So, I’m just really excited to be their teammate.”

Reed certainly looks forward to enrolling at Clemson in January and beginning his collegiate career, but first, he is focused on taking care of business during his senior season at Vandegrift.

“I’m very excited about that,” he said, “but I’m just going to take it one step at a time, help my team, help finish and complete our goals for my high school team and what we want to do first, and then it’s on to Clemson and start again basically. So, I’m really excited about the midyear enrollee stuff and just getting ready to work.”

What can Clemson fans expect to see from Reed on the Tigers’ offensive line in the future?

“Someone that’s loyal,” he said. “I’ll give 110 percent every play. I’m physical and mean, athletic, very smart. I have a great bend, speed off the edge, too. Just a mauler and physical.”

Reed is ranked as high as the No. 14 offensive tackle and No. 147 overall prospect in the 2023 class by Rivals.

–Photo courtesy of Ian Reed on Twitter (@Ian_Reed72)

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.

Clemson football 2023 recruiting class tracker

Clemson football is on a recruiting tear. Check out the Tigers 2023 class so far.

Updated 8/9

We are in full swing with the 2023 recruiting cycle, with this past month being a busy one for Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program.

There have been ups and downs during the process, but the Tigers have had a great start in the 23′ class. Though the team has dealt with decommitments from four-star wide receiver Nathanial Joseph and three-star tight end Reid Mikeska, Clemson still ranks among the top of 247Sports 2023 recruit team rankings.

According to the 247Sports rankings, Friday’s addition of five-star defensive lineman Peter Woods has pushed Clemson up to the No.3 ranked class in the country with eleven commits and 260.28 total points.

Swinney and the Tigers are one of the hottest teams on the recruiting trail right now after snagging Woods from his home state and power house program, Alabama.

Here is a look at the Tigers’ current 2023 class with their 247Sports composite ranking:

Clemson commits react to their official offers from the Tigers

August 1 marks the day that colleges around the nation start doling out official offers to prospects. Clemson is of course among the schools that have been sending out official offers to their commits and targets in the class of 2023, and many of …

August 1 marks the day that colleges around the nation start doling out official offers to prospects.

Clemson is of course among the schools that have been sending out official offers to their commits and targets in the class of 2023, and many of the Tigers’ pledges have been announcing and reacting to their official offers on social media.

Here’s a look at official offer announcements from future Tigers:

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.

4-star OL commit Owens says ‘the sky’s the limit’ for Clemson’s 2023 class

Among the commitments in Clemson’s 2023 recruiting class who were on hand for Monday’s All In Cookout was Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (McDonough, Ga.) four-star offensive tackle, Zechariah Owens. The 6-foot-6, 365-pound rising senior had a …

Among the commitments in Clemson’s 2023 recruiting class who were on hand for Monday’s All In Cookout was Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (McDonough, Ga.) four-star offensive tackle, Zechariah Owens.

The 6-foot-6, 365-pound rising senior had a blast at the Tigers’ signature summer recruiting event and recapped his experience in a phone interview with The Clemson Insider this past Tuesday.

“It was fun, man,” Owens said. “It was so much fun. It felt good seeing all my guys again. I can say this and speak for everybody, we’re all like brothers. The way we look at each other. The way we talk to each other, play with each other. I know when we get to college, I already know the sky’s the limit for us.”

Before we went further into Monday’s festivities, Owens peeled back the curtain and walked us through his decision to commit to Dabo Swinney’s program back on the Fourth of July. 

If you can recall, Owens told The Clemson Insider back in early March that Clemson was his No. 1 school following a junior day visit that culminated in an offer. At the time, it was not only Swinney’s message that resonated with Owens but his ability to connect with Thomas Austin on a personal level. 

“I’m looking at him as an example,” Owens said of Clemson’s offensive line coach. “He was an offensive lineman. He came from Clemson and look where he is now. He’s the offensive line coach — that’s his dream job. Every time someone comes out of Clemson, no matter where they go…dreams come true at Clemson. I just know that if I stick with the plan they have for me, I could do the same thing.”

Now, you may be asking why when Owens’ commitment video panned into a Penn State logo before turning into his Clemson commitment graphic. Well, word got out that he silently committed during his official visit and he didn’t want that to be public information until he announced his decision.

“I knew I was going to Clemson,” he said. “My family knew I was going to Clemson. We’ve been All In. We all knew I was going to Clemson…It wasn’t no disrespect towards the school or nothing like that. I just wanted to get people off my back thinking they know where I’m going when I didn’t want to make it public.”

While Monday’s All In Cookout wasn’t about recruiting, Owens said that Clemson’s staff was still acting like they were recruiting him. Even though Clemson had 16 of 17 committed prospects on campus earlier this week, the Tigers haven’t grown complacent. They haven’t treated the commits any differently just because they’re committed. They’re still actively recruiting them and their families each and every day, especially Monday.

“I don’t know how to explain it, it’s really like a family thing,” he said. “It’s really like a family. I can’t really explain it, you really just got to be there. It’s no favorites…All of them are just family.”

That especially can be said for Clemson’s offensive line commits like Vandegrift (Austin, TX.) four-star Ian Reed and Permian (Odessa, TX.) four-star Harris Sewell.

“We might be the best o-line class Clemson has gotten,” Owens said. “Development-wise, we have the best o-line class. We’re dawgs. I got my boy, Ian, he’s tough. I’ve seen Harris’s film. Harris is tough. Harris be hittin’…We all act like brothers too, so our chemistry’s already there. The way we act towards each other and around each other, we don’t try to one-up each other. No, none of that. The chemistry is actually there and very genuine with my boys.”

The same could be said for the remainder of Clemson’s 2023 recruiting class and the five-star quarterback that Owens has been tasked with protecting.

“Everybody loves CV,” Owens said of Christopher Vizzina. “CV is like boy wonder. How could you not love Chris? He’s cool. I love CV. He’s like a brother for real. He’s the one that recruited me and helped me come to Clemson. I was gonna choose Penn State and he was like ‘Yeah, you’re not going to Penn State.’’

Owens listened. He was not going to Penn State.

— Photo for this article courtesy of  @z6ckk on Instagram.

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Texas OL talks visit, says Clemson commit teammate ‘sparked an interest’ in Tigers

Clemson played host to the teammate of four-star offensive tackle commit, Ian Reed, on Tuesday. 2024 offensive tackle Blake Fraizer, who also hails from Vandegrift (Austin, TX.) made his way to campus for the first time and recapped his experience …

Clemson played host to the teammate of four-star offensive tackle commit, Ian Reed, on Tuesday.

2024 offensive tackle Blake Fraizer, who also hails from Vandegrift (Austin, TX.) made his way to campus for the first time and recapped his experience in an exclusive phone interview with The Clemson Insider on Wednesday morning.

“It was a really fun time,” Frazier said. “All the coaches started off with their All-In meetings yesterday. We just kind of went in there and Coach (Thomas) Austin introduced me to a bunch of coaches. Everyone was super welcoming, it was a really cool feeling. Everyone was walking up, shaking my hand and just introducing themselves. It was a really cool welcome.”

Frazier said that the interest in visiting Clemson “definitely started” with Reed, but once he learned more about the program, it was definitely an interest for him as well. 

“Ian talks about it all the time, how the culture is just unlike any other he’s ever seen,” Frazier said. “I think that definitely sparked an interest.”

Frazier got to experience Clemson’s culture for himself Tuesday. When asked what stood out to him the most about his visit, Frazier didn’t hesitate to say that it was the culture of Dabo Swinney’s program.

“It’s definitely a family atmosphere,” he said. “All the coaches were highly praising each other. They all seemed to love each other. It wasn’t like they were just colleagues. They love and enjoy working together.”

Frazier admitted that it was kind of tough finding time to spend with the coaches because they had their All-In meetings Tuesday. However, every free second they had open, one of the coaches was asking him to come to lunch or grab an ice cream and just making sure they made time for him.

That includes Austin, who will serve as Fraizer’s primary recruiter going forward.

“Coach Austin is an amazing guy,” Frazier said of Clemson’s offensive line coach. “He’s just very down-to-earth. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s a family man at heart, absolutely. He talked about his four kids a bunch and his wife (Margaret) and just how everyone on staff enjoys family as much as he does. He’s a really, really cool guy.”

Clemson isn’t the only school to jump into the Lone Star State offensive lineman’s recruitment, which has taken off since the spring. He picked up his first offer from UTSA back in April and has since added Colorado, Michigan and Texas A&M to his growing list.

Frazier had a chance to camp at Michigan, LSU, Texas A&M and Alabama this summer, adding offers from two of the schools mentioned. In addition to visiting Clemson Tuesday, he’ll be at the University of Colorado on Thursday, July 28.

“A bunch of college coaches have asked me about it and I just kind of tell them the same thing,” Frazier said regarding his current recruitment. “I was just kind of prepared for, ‘OK, let’s get a good first four games in the books, send out some film and see what happens,’ but then all the coaches started showing up in spring ball for Ian. I was like, ‘This is gonna happen now.’ And I kind of got thrown into it, but I’m learning a lot about it. It’s definitely been fun, but something I’ve had to figure out how to navigate.”

Colorado is the last visit Frazier will make before the start of his junior campaign. From there, it’s back to work and getting ready for the season ahead. As far as visits this upcoming season go, Frazier, did mention possibly taking in a game day visit at Memorial Stadium this fall with Reed, but hasn’t committed to any dates just yet.

“They definitely mentioned it,” Frazier said regarding a potential game day visit. “They weren’t pushing it super hard, but that was because they wanted me to feel that I wanted to be back. A bunch of coaches talked to me and it’s definitely something that I’m interested in. I have to figure it all out with timing and stuff, but it’s definitely something that’s interesting to me.”

Right now, his focus is on the season ahead, with the expectation of playing at AT&T Stadium in December. That’s their goal headed into every year, but with the offensive line Vandegrift has this season — Frazier at right tackle and Reed cemented on the left side — they have a great chance of playing deep into the playoffs.

“Our offensive line (this) year is going to be a force to reckon with for sure,” he said. “We’re gonna have one of the biggest, if not the biggest offensive line in Vandegrift history. It’s gonna be really, really fun playing with those guys and I’m really excited about it.”

“I’m a tough player,” Frazier said when asked to describe himself as a player. “I’m a hard worker. I have fun with it. I’m not gonna be intimidated on the field. Everybody’s always talking about a game day atmosphere; when I hit that field it’s like everything else is out of my head and it’s go time. I’m all out every play and you’re not gonna see me slacking.”

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.

Clemson offensive line target sets commitment date

One of Clemson’s priority offensive line targets has announced his commitment date.

One of Clemson’s top offensive line targets has set his commitment date.

2023 three-star interior offensive lineman Connor Lew took to Twitter on Saturday to announce he will make his commitment on August 5.

Lew’s finalists are Auburn, Clemson, Georgia and Miami.

The 6-foot-3, 280-pound Lew is the No. 42 interior offensive lineman and the No. 612 overall recruit in the class of 2023, according to 247Sports Composite rankings.

Lew officially visited Clemson on June 3 and has since visited his three other finalists.

“It was impressive to see how Clemson focused on character development and preparing their student-athletes for life,” he told The Clemson Insider following the official visit. “It starts up with Coach Swinney, and he did a good job of explaining to us and describing the process and how there’s tools and resources for everyone to grow as a person and develop their character while they’re at Clemson.”

He is one of 14 offensive line recruits the Tigers have offered, three of which, Harris Sewell, Zechariah Owens and Ian Reed, have committed.

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Austin talks recruiting, says it’s been ‘encouraging to see’ Clemson’s brand is ‘strong’

With the start of fall camp just weeks away, Thomas Austin had a chance to speak with reporters on Tuesday for the first time since the first-year offensive line picked up three verbal commitments in the class of 2023. Austin was asked about getting …

With the start of fall camp just weeks away, Thomas Austin had a chance to speak with reporters on Tuesday for the first time since the first-year offensive line picked up three verbal commitments in the class of 2023. 

Austin was asked about getting back on the road and what his message has been now that he’s an assistant coach on Dabo Swinney’s staff.

“I think it’s certainly been encouraging to see that our brand is strong, the message resonates with the right guys and the right families,” Austin said Tuesday. “With all this NIL and portal stuff, the college landscape is up in the air a little bit and there’s some confusion. Coach Swinney said the other day, ‘The more chaotic college football becomes, the more attractive Clemson will become to the right guys.”

Austin and the Tigers landed their most recent offensive line commitment on Monday, July 4, from Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (McDonough, Ga.) four-star Zechariah Owens, a highly touted prospect ranked as high as the nation’s No. 8 offensive tackle and No. 67 overall prospect in the country for the 2023 class by 247Sports.

Owens joins a couple of other acclaimed offensive linemen in Clemson’s 2023 class — a pair of Lone Star State standouts in Permian High School (Odessa, Texas) four-star Harris Sewell and Vandegrift High School (Austin, Texas) four-star Ian Reed.

Sewell is tabbed as a top-100 national prospect regardless of position by ESPN (No. 65 overall), Rivals (No. 99) and the 247Sports Composite (No. 73), the latter of which considers him the No. 2 interior offensive lineman in the class. Reed, meanwhile, is also well respected across the board as a consensus four-star prospect who is ranked as high as the No. 13 offensive tackle and No. 143 overall prospect in the 2023 class.

“I think we’ve been able to identify the right guys that fit our culture, fight our program and the right families that fit our program,” he said. “I think there’s affirmation through the summer that those guys really want to be at Clemson. I think it’s been very encouraging for us.”

What Austin wasn’t aware of until he got on the road is while everybody talks about Clemson, there’s a lot more negative recruiting going on than he originally realized. Austin indicated that when Clemson recruits against other schools on the recruiting trail, the coaches talk about Clemson, but they don’t talk about other people or other programs.

“I think there was some people that were trying to expose some chinks in the armor for Clemson, that ‘Hey, that this is the beginning of the end for us.’ I think it was good affirmation for us to be like, ‘Hey, there’s a lot of questions, but we’re well positioned with NIL. We have the best facilities in the country. We have great resources that work. Our guys are gonna come here and have incredible opportunities. We’re not leading with those conversations, right? It’s about our culture. It’s about our education. It’s about the fit. It’s about P.A.W. Journey. It’s about everything else that Clemson has to offer. That’s attractive for the right guys.”

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Austin proving to be great recruiter already

Thomas Austin is proving to be plenty capable as a recruiter in his first cycle as Clemson’s offensive line coach after being formally named to that position in early February. Austin and the Tigers landed a third offensive line commitment on Monday …

Thomas Austin is proving to be plenty capable as a recruiter in his first cycle as Clemson’s offensive line coach after being formally named to that position in early February.

Austin and the Tigers landed a third offensive line commitment on Monday from Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (McDonough, Ga.) four-star Zechariah Owens, a highly touted prospect ranked as high as the nation’s No. 8 offensive tackle and No. 67 overall prospect in the country for the 2023 class by 247Sports.

Owens joins a couple of other acclaimed offensive linemen in Clemson’s 2023 class – a pair of Lone Star State standouts in Permian High School (Odessa, Texas) four-star Harris Sewell and Vandegrift High School (Austin, Texas) four-star Ian Reed.

Sewell is tabbed as a top-100 national prospect regardless of position by ESPN (No. 65 overall), Rivals (No. 99) and the 247Sports Composite (No. 73), the latter of which considers him the No. 2 interior offensive lineman in the class. Reed, meanwhile, is also well respected across the board as a consensus four-star prospect who is ranked as high as the No. 13 offensive tackle and No. 143 overall prospect in the 2023 class.

As you can see, Austin is putting together an outstanding offensive line haul for Clemson’s class and quieting the concerns that some fans had earlier in this cycle.

Some were worried about Clemson’s offensive line recruiting when a couple of former Tiger O-line targets – Reagan High School (Pfafftown, N.C.) four-star Sam Pendleton and South Point High School (Belmont, N.C.) four-star Sullivan Absher –committed to Notre Dame in April and May, respectively.

In recruiting, it’s always more about the ones you get and not the ones you don’t get. But as it turns out, the offensive linemen the Tigers have ended up getting are more highly regarded than the aforementioned duo that they didn’t get.

Absher is ranked as high as the No. 192 overall prospect in the 2023 class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings, while Pendleton is ranked as high as the No. 225 overall prospect in the class by Rivals. All three of Clemson’s current O-line commits carry a higher ranking than those by at least one service.

Austin is showing his ability as a recruiter and deserves a tip of the cap for the talent he’s helping the Tigers bring in at the O-line position this year.

But Austin is doing more than just simply recruiting Clemson’s offensive line commits – he has done a good job of building a genuine relationship with them, as well.

Just ask the Tigers’ newest O-line commit, who is certainly a fan of Austin.

“He came to my school during January like three times,” Owens told The Clemson Insider earlier this year. “So, we were always like close. We built the relationship. I sat down and talked with him, laughed it up, talk seriously, talk about football, talk about family. I already had the relationship. …

“I already had the relationship with Coach Austin. When I actually say I love a coach, I think of them as a father figure. I already think of Coach Austin as a father figure because he shows me that he’s a husband before a coach. He shows me how much he cares about his family before he puts football. Football is his main thing in life, but he puts family and God first, before anything.”

Dear Old Clemson’s first event is July 24.  Now there is a new way to support Clemson student athletes.  Come out and meet the freshmen football players at this meet and greet autograph session.  If you sign up for certain club levels you get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events.  Purchase your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.