Another Clemson staffer leaving for Oklahoma

Dabo Swinney is losing another staffer to his former defensive coordinator. J.P. Losman is expected to join Brent Venables’ staff at Oklahoma in an administrative role, sources confirm to The Clemson Insider. Losman is currently an offensive analyst …

Dabo Swinney is losing another staffer to his former defensive coordinator.

J.P. Losman is expected to join Brent Venables’ staff at Oklahoma in an administrative role, sources confirm to The Clemson Insider. Losman is currently an offensive analyst at Clemson working primarily with quarterbacks.

Losman would be the fourth staffer to leave Clemson for OU since Venables was hired as the Sooners’ head coach back in December, joining former defensive tackles coach Todd Bates, Miguel Chavez, Ted Roof and Thad Turnipseed. Chavez (defensive ends) and Roof (co-defensive coordinator) were off-field staffers who will transition into on-field roles at OU.

Turnipseed, who served in an administrative role at Clemson, left to be Venables’ chief of staff.

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Talented Texas QB ‘a really big fan’ of Swinney, Clemson

A talented quarterback prospect from the Lone Star State for Clemson fans to look out for in the future is Roy Thomas Jenkins from Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School in Beaumont, Texas. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound freshman already has an offer from …

A talented quarterback prospect from the Lone Star State for Clemson fans to look out for in the future is Roy Thomas Jenkins from Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School in Beaumont, Texas.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound freshman already has an offer from Houston and started on his high school varsity team this past season, completing 62 percent of his passes for 2,216 yards and totaling 30 touchdowns in only 10 games.

Clemson is among other schools showing early interest in Jenkins, a class of 2025 recruit who traveled to Tiger Town in November to take in the Wake Forest game at Death Valley as an unofficial visitor.

The Clemson Insider recently caught up with Jenkins, who liked hearing that quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter was promoted to offensive coordinator following Tony Elliott’s departure to Virginia to be its next head coach.

“That’s really good,” Jenkins said of Streeter’s promotion. “I feel like a quarterbacks coach that knows the quarterbacks very well, I think it can revolve around a good passing offense. Passing offense, that’s what I like. You’ve still got to run the ball, but I’m more of a passing offense guy. I think that’s a plus for throwing quarterbacks because you have a quarterbacks coach going to offensive coordinator, he knows a lot about throwing the ball.”

While on campus for the Wake Forest game, Jenkins had the chance to speak some with Streeter and spent a lot of time with senior offensive assistant J.P. Losman, who gave Jenkins a tour of the campus and facilities.

“Coach Streeter, I talked to him a little bit. He’s a really nice guy,” Jenkins said. “And Coach Losman, when he had me on the visit, really nice guy.”

This offseason, Jenkins is putting in work with his quarterback coach, Joe Dickinson, who is also New England Patriots rookie Mac Jones’ personal QB coach.

Dickinson, who most notably served as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Northern Illinois from 1991-95 and offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 1998, was the running backs coach at Tulane in 2000 when Losman was a freshman quarterback there.

“I’m really working on technique and my throwing mechanics with my quarterback coach,” Jenkins said of Dickinson. “He’s from Rosedale, Oklahoma. He trains Mac Jones for the Patriots, and he knows Coach Losman and kind of got me in touch with him. We’re just working on my throwing mechanics and getting everything shortened and tightened up, and I need to really work on learning how to read defenses. I want to focus on that, and putting on a little weight.”

Jenkins plans to participate in the Dabo Swinney Camp this summer and looks forward to learning from Losman, a former NFL quarterback and first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2004.

“I’m pretty excited,” Jenkins said. “I’m ready to work with Coach Losman and just learn a thing or two from him.”

Along with Clemson, Jenkins visited Houston and Georgia during the season, and he is looking to make a bunch of trips this offseason.

“I’m going to try to go to Clemson, Georgia, Mississippi State, try to go to Arkansas, Duke, and then the Texas schools I’ll try to go to are A&M, Texas and TCU,” he said.

Jenkins knows Clemson doesn’t offer scholarships to prospects his age, but he is really hoping to receive one from the Tigers down the road.

“It would definitely be one of my top choices, for sure,” he said.

“I really, really, really like the Carolinas – North and South Carolina. I love the weather up there, and I just love the Clemson program. I feel like they prepare you for your life after football mainly, and I just feel like that’d be a great university. And I’m a really big fan of Dabo Swinney. All those factors go into it.”

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Under-the-radar Peach State gunslinger takes in Clemson visit

The Clemson Insider caught up with an under-the-radar quarterback prospect, who was on campus this past weekend for Clemson’s 48-27 win over Wake Forest. Calvary Day School (Savannah, Ga.) 2024 quarterback Jake Merklinger made the trip after being …

The Clemson Insider caught up with an under-the-radar quarterback prospect, who was on campus this past weekend for Clemson’s 48-27 win over Wake Forest.

Calvary Day School (Savannah, Ga.) 2024 quarterback Jake Merklinger made the trip after being invited by one of Clemson’s coaches, who saw his film and passed along the invitation to his head coach.

“It was amazing. There is a very family-like atmosphere,” Merklinger told TCI. “Going into the locker room pregame was really cool. I loved it. It definitely lived up to the hype.”

While on campus, Merklinger had a chance to speak with Clemson quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter and offensive analyst J.P. Losman.

“I got to talk to coach Losman and coach Streeter,” he said. “It was awesome. I liked them a lot.”

While Merklinger is only a sophomore, he stills holds offers from both Michigan State and Cincinnati. He referred to the recruiting process as “pretty sweet” and “very humbling.”

Merklinger believes his playstyle as a quarterback is still unwritten, right now he’s just focused on winning. That being said, he tries to model his game after that of Buffalo Bills and former University of Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen.

Calvary Day (12-0) will host Fellowship Christian (Roswell, Ga.) in Georgia’s high school football state quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 26.

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4-star in-state QB, family ‘felt the love’ from Clemson during visit

While this past weekend was Clemson’s big official visit weekend, the Tigers also played host to some standout unofficial visitors for Saturday’s game against UConn, including Chapin (S.C.) High School four-star quarterback Jayden Bradford. The …

While this past weekend was Clemson’s big official visit weekend, the Tigers also played host to some standout unofficial visitors for Saturday’s game against UConn, including Chapin (S.C.) High School four-star quarterback Jayden Bradford.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound sophomore is ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Palmetto State and No. 8 signal-caller in the country for the class of 2024. The trip to Tiger Town was a family affair for Bradford (pictured above, top row, second from right), who was accompanied by his mother, father, sister and grandmother as well as a couple of friends.

“The visit was awesome, being there with my family and enjoying the moment,” Bradford told The Clemson Insider.

The highlight of the visit for Bradford, he said, was being able to speak with Clemson’s quarterbacks in the locker room following the Tigers’ 44-7 win over the Huskies.

He also really enjoyed experiencing what he called an “amazing” atmosphere at Memorial Stadium, especially on Military Appreciation Day as Clemson paid tribute to the active-duty and retired military with several presentations throughout the day.

“It’s been a while [since] I’ve been there, so to get that experience was awesome,” Bradford said of attending a game at Death Valley. “I really liked the Military Appreciation Day because I feel like the armed forces don’t get the recognition they deserve sometimes, so I really appreciated the university praising them.”

The staff member that Bradford spent the most time with while on campus was senior offensive assistant J.P. Losman, a former Tulane quarterback who was a first-round NFL Draft pick in 2004 by the Buffalo Bills.

Losman appeared in 45 NFL regular-season games over eight seasons with the Bills, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins.

“I talked with Coach J.P. the most,” Bradford said. “He greeted me and my family, and he was just talking to us, getting to know us on a personal level and telling us how the season was going and also a little about how the game is in college and the NFL.”

Bradford also interacted with Clemson quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter, who “had a lot of good things to say” to Bradford.

“I think for me the biggest takeaway I got from listening to him was to face adversity head on and attack instead of hide from it,” Bradford said of his conversations with Streeter.

Streeter traveled to check out Bradford during Chapin’s 50-14 win at Carolina Forest (Myrtle Beach) in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs on Nov. 5, when Bradford threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score.

Bradford has also attended games at NC State, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Penn State this season, and plans to be at Notre Dame’s game vs. Georgia Tech in South Bend this Saturday.

As for the visit to Clemson, the Tigers certainly left a great impression on Bradford and his family.

“My family and I felt the love immediately from the coaches and staff,” he said. “We loved our time there.”

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Elite California QB ‘loved’ Clemson visit, felt ‘like family’

Clemson played host to one of the nation’s top signal-callers on Thursday. Elite Golden State quarterback Jaden Rashada of Pittsburg (Calif.) High School arrived in town on Wednesday night before spending all day Thursday on campus from around 9:30 …

Clemson played host to one of the nation’s top signal-callers on Thursday.

Elite Golden State quarterback Jaden Rashada of Pittsburg (Calif.) High School arrived in town on Wednesday night before spending all day Thursday on campus from around 9:30 a.m. to 6-7 p.m.

Rashada, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound rising junior, is ranked as the country’s No. 6 quarterback and a top-50 national prospect regardless of position (No. 45 overall) according to the 247Sports Composite.

“I loved it,” Rashada said to The Clemson Insider regarding his visit to Clemson. “Just the culture and how cool and loving the coaches are, it made you feel like family. It was pretty cool being around all them.”

Rashada spent time with quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, as well as senior offensive assistant J.P. Losman, during the visit.

“They were just grateful I made it up there from Cali,” Rashada said. “They were letting me know where I stood with them, which was pretty good. So, just be patient and stuff with that process.”

Rashada has racked up offers from numerous major programs including Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Penn State, Arizona, California, Utah, Washington and Washington State among others.

Five-star Arch Manning is the lone quarterback in the 2023 class with an offer from Clemson to date, but Rashada feels he is in a good spot for a potential offer from the Tigers, based on what he has heard from the staff.

“I think I stand pretty well with them, as what they were saying, as long as I just keep doing my job on and off the field,” he said.

An offer from Clemson would certainly be a big deal for Rashada.

“That would mean a lot, just knowing how selective they are and what they look for in a guy,” he said. “It’s an honor, so it would mean a lot to me for sure.”

Rashada plans to visit Clemson again during the upcoming season and is circling the Georgia Tech game on Sept. 18 as a potential return date. He has also been to Penn State this summer and is slated to visit Ole Miss.

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2004 NFL Draft: Who were the 17 quarterbacks chosen that year?

Philip Rivers’ time is over as a Charger. What QBs were taken in the 2004 draft, which included Rivers, Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger

Philip Rivers is parting ways with the Chargers. He was one of four quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Seventeen quarterbacks went in the draft, many of them having short and forgettable careers. A look at the QB Class of 2004.

Broncos: Bradlee Van Pelt (7th round, 250th overall)

Byron Hetzler-USA TODAY 

Bradlee Van Pelt was 2-of-8 passing for seven yards. He also rushed for 48 yards and one touchdown.