Tag: Jake Norris

In-state OL, lifelong Clemson fan ‘looking forward’ to suiting up for Tigers

Clemson received its 20th total commitment in the 2023 recruiting class when Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Massachusetts) four-star Ronan Hanafin verbally pledged to Dabo Swinney’s program on Sunday evening. It comes on the heels of …

Clemson received its 20th total commitment in the 2023 recruiting class when Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Massachusetts) four-star Ronan Hanafin verbally pledged to Dabo Swinney’s program on Sunday evening.

It comes on the heels of Stockbridge (Georgia) three-star defensive back Shelton Lewis committing to Clemson earlier in the week. Unbeknownst to some, Hanafin and Lewis weren’t the only prospects to pledge to Clemson this month.

Piedmont (S.C.) Wren High’s Jake Norris — a 6-foot-3, 265-pound offensive lineman in the class of 2023 — announced his commitment to the Tigers via social media on Aug. 2. He will be headed to Tiger Town as a preferred walk-on.

Norris recently spoke with The Clemson Insider regarding his decision to commit to Clemson and shut down his recruitment ahead of what should be a major senior season.

“I’ve been a Clemson fan my whole life,” Norris said. “It’s really always been a goal and to finally be able to pursue the dream I’ve always had to play for your favorite college team is something I’ve been really looking forward to doing ever since the PWO.”

“It’s the route I want to take and I’m looking forward to playing at Clemson,” he added.

Norris phoned Clemson coach Dabo Swinney before making his decision public. 

“I received a positive reaction for sure,” Norris said.

Once he arrives on campus next summer, Norris is pretty certain that he’ll be either a guard or center under offensive line coach Thomas Austin. Norris acknowledged that getting a chance to play for Austin is an opportunity that not many people get. He said that he was “beyond honored” to have a coach like Austin and get to learn from the best there is

“Just keep working as hard as I possibly can and keep doing everything to the best of my ability really,” Norris said.

Norris was welcomed with open arms by Clemson fans and players alike. He’s close friends with freshman offensive lineman Collin Sadler, who Norris said was “very excited” about his decision. The type of reaction Norris received made him feel very good about going to play at Clemson going forward.

While Norris’ senior season is going to be a big one, he wanted to shut down his recruitment because he wanted to have his mind set on something. Norris wants to go as far as he can with his high school. He’s not slowing down for anything — he wants to win a state championship.

“Just being able to go ahead and have something decided just makes it a little easier for that,” he said regarding his decision.

Norris also indicated that he will be at as many Clemson home games as possible this season.

— Photo for this article courtesy of @Jake_Norris55 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.

Clemson picks up new commitment

The Clemson football program picked up a new commitment Tuesday. Piedmont (S.C.) Wren High School’s Jake Norris – a 6-foot-3, 265-pound offensive lineman in the class of 2023 – announced his commitment to the Tigers via social media. He will be …

The Clemson football program picked up a new commitment Tuesday.

Piedmont (S.C.) Wren High School’s Jake Norris — a 6-foot-3, 265-pound offensive lineman in the class of 2023 — announced his commitment to the Tigers via social media. He will be headed to Tiger Town as a preferred walk-on.

Norris picked up a preferred walk-on offer from Clemson in June, when he participated in and shined at the Dabo Swinney Camp.

Following his participation in the Swinney Camp, during which he worked out at the center position and both guard spots, Norris had a meeting with Clemson’s head coach.

It was there that Swinney presented Norris with the PWO offer. According to Norris, Swinney acknowledged that the Tigers would love to have him at Clemson as a PWO player.

“I’ve been a Clemson fan my entire life,” Norris told The Clemson Insider. “I grew up going to all the games. It’s really been a goal to get to this point. I guess I’ll see what happens from here.”

Norris said he’s also been receiving interest from schools like The Citadel, South Carolina, Wofford and a couple of small out-of-state programs.

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.

In-state OL, lifelong Clemson fan discusses opportunity to play for Tigers

An in-state offensive line product, who shined at and participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp back in June, picked up a preferred walk-on offer from Clemson. Piedmont (S.C.) Wren High School’s Jake Norris – a 6-foot-3, 265-pound offensive lineman in …

An in-state offensive line product, who shined at and participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp back in June, picked up a preferred walk-on offer from Clemson.

Piedmont (S.C.) Wren High School’s Jake Norris — a 6-foot-3, 265-pound offensive lineman in the class of 2023 — returned to campus earlier this summer after attending a game day visit at Memorial Stadium last season

“It was a great experience, it really was,” Norris recently told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview. “I went to the camp in June. I learned a lot of things. Coach (Thomas) Austin is a great guy. It really was a truly great experience.”

“It’s like any other school,” he continued. “Most camps you go to, you run a 40-yard-dash, you do a combine, but at Clemson, you just go and see how it is to be a Clemson football player, really. It’s mostly about the culture that they have there at Clemson.”

Norris told us that he received good feedback from Austin and that Clemson’s first-year offensive line coach seemed to know everything that there is to know about the offensive line and that he’s a “very stand-up guy.”

Following his participation in June’s Swinney Camp, in which he worked out at the center position and both guard spots, Norris had a meeting with Clemson’s head coach.

It was there that Swinney presented Norris with a PWO offer. According to Norris, Swinney acknowledged that while Norris is currently going through the recruitment process, the Tigers would love to have him at Clemson as a PWO player.

“I’ve been a Clemson fan my entire life,” Norris said. “I grew up going to all the games. It’s really been a goal to get to this point. I guess I’ll see what happens from here.”

Norris said he’ll definitely consider the way Clemson treats its preferred walk-ons, which is pretty different from any other program in the country. Norris has some friends who are PWO athletes at Clemson and they’ve told him that they get treated exactly the same as everyone else.

“It really doesn’t make a difference how they treat their PWO players at Clemson,” he said.

Norris has a big senior year coming up, which he said is what’s really gonna make the difference for him, and is excited to see how his process eventually plays out. As far as his recruitment is concerned, Norris said he’s been receiving interest from schools like The Citadel, South Carolina, Wofford and a couple of small out-of-state programs.

Norris is familiar with a lot of Clemson players because he is a Train Built Performance product, like a lot of other current Tigers. Norris told us that he’s close friends with Clemson freshman offensive lineman Collin Sadler, among others.

He learned from Coach Lamb how to play just about every position on the offensive line.

“I’m a hard worker, very aggressive and I’m a great leader, ” Norris said when asked to describe himself as a player. “I try my best on everything.”

— Photo for this article courtesy of Jake Norris.