It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report.
We hope everyone had a great weekend. It was certainly a great weekend for the Tigers as they earned a top-10 victory and got their 37th consecutive home win in what was an awesome atmosphere at Death Valley.
Grisham set to check out 2025 Ohio QB
The Clemson Insider has learned through a source that Tyler Grisham will be traveling to Ohio ahead of the team’s game against Boston College this Saturday. Clemson’s wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator will be on hand to watch Findlay (Ohio) 2025 quarterback Ryan Montgomery, who has emerged as a prime sophomore target for the Tigers.
Clemson is said to be doing a good job in its pursuit of Ryan, who is the younger brother of one of the nation’s top offensive linemen in Luke Montgomery, an Ohio State pledge. Clemson was a finalist in Luke’s recruitment but wasn’t able to beat the allure that a program like Ohio State has on an in-state prospect.
As for Ryan, he’s been in contact with Brandon Streeter and has had several calls with Clemson’s offensive coordinator.
It’s likely that Ryan, who already holds several Power Five offers from schools like Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Tennessee, will be in attendance with his parents for Clemson’s matchup against Louisville at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 12.
New class of 2023 developments
We have some information to pass along regarding two Peach State prospects that Clemson is pursuing in the class of 2023.
Over a week after reporting an offer from Clemson, Bogart (Ga.) North Oconee three-star defensive back Khalil Barnes took to Twitter to announce that he would be reopening his recruitment, and so walking back his pledge from the Demon Deacons.
Barnes has talked pretty candidly about his affinity for Dabo Swinney’s program and his relationship with Mickey Conn. Once Clemson’s co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach pulled the trigger on a scholarship offer, this seemed like a development that could arise, but Barnes was still committed to Wake Forest at the time.
“It was definitely crazy. I’m blessed,” he said when asked about his reaction to receiving an offer. “I was really happy where I was…I was just kind of in the moment. I was just proud and I knew how hard I had worked for it. It was cool to finally get that one. Coach Conn gave me something to think about, but I just want to focus on helping my team win a state championship.”
Conn brought up a conversation that he had with Barnes and his father back in June.
In that conversation, which Barnes detailed in an interview with TCI, Conn was honest and upfront about Clemson’s intentions. According to Barnes, Conn said that he would totally understand if they both hated him and Clemson, after having not pulled the trigger on an offer at the time.
”Just knowing that he remembered that conversation vividly and was able to be a man of his word and produce the offer, it shows what kind of man he is,” Barnes said of Conn.
Now, there remains a good chance that Barnes will have the opportunity to play for Conn at the next level.
The next target we wanted to touch on is Meadowcreek (Norcross, Ga.) three-star running back Jordan Louie. We can tell you that Clemson stopped by the West Virginia pledge’s school this past Friday.
He recently told TCI that the Tigers are starting to show a lot of interest in him.
Back in March, he informed TCI that he sent his film to both CJ Spiller and Tyler Grisham because he plays both running back and wide receiver. According to Louie, Grisham told him that his film was impressive.
Louie told us he’s looking to visit for a game and that Clemson will potentially give him an opportunity to be on the team.
We’ll keep an eye on this development as Clemson keeps its option available at the running back position.
OL target has ‘awesome’ visit to Clemson
Among the many top prospects in attendance for Clemson’s top-10 win over NC State on Saturday night was this priority offensive line target.
Tuscarora (Leesburg, Va.) four-star Fletcher Westphal took an unofficial visit to Death Valley for the Tigers’ 30-20 victory over the Wolfpack.
“It was awesome,” Westphal told TCI in a message. “I got there early and they toured me around the campus and I could see the fans already set up at 1:30 pm tailgating. The excitement was already building that early. It just kept building closer it got to game time.
“I got to meet the team at the top of the hill at the rock before they enter the field before the game. That was crazy. One of my friends saw me on TV in the crowd.”
Westphal also got to spend a good amount of time with both offensive line coach Thomas Austin and offensive player development coach Tyrone Crowder, which he said he didn’t expect.
Originally Westphal was supposed to visit for the Louisville game on Nov. 12 but elected to travel down to Clemson this past weekend instead.
“I was planning for a November visit, but I’m definitely glad I made this game!” he said.
Update on nation’s No. 1 LB after latest Clemson visit
Clemson again played host to the nation’s top-ranked linebacker in the 2024 class this past weekend.
Jefferson (Ga.) five-star Sammy Brown returned to Tiger Town to take in the NC State game. He made the trip with his mom and dad, both of whom he said enjoyed the visit “very much and really liked catching up with all the staff and coaches.”
Brown also attended Clemson’s home opener against Furman, where both of his parents went to college when different members of the Tigers’ staff were there. So there’s a lot of connections between Clemson staffers and Brown’s parents, including Joey Batson, Clemson’s longtime director of strength training who previously served as the first full-time director of strength training at Furman.
Brown told TCI he really enjoyed getting back to Clemson for a night game and being able to experience a game at Death Valley under the lights. “The fans (Saturday) night were unbelievable, more electric than any other time,” he said.
We asked Brown, who has visited campus numerous times, what most appeals to him about Clemson when he thinks about it as a potential college option. He said, “Definitely their culture.”
“They’ve got one of the best cultures in college football and are definitely doing the right thing,” he said.
Brown traveled to Tennessee for its game vs. Florida on Sept. 24 and visited Ohio State for its Sept. 3 season opener against Notre Dame. He told us he thinks his next trip will be to Georgia but he doesn’t have anything else planned besides that as of now.
Clemson visit puts cherry on top for top cornerback target
The cornerback prospect who collected Clemson’s first offer at his position when the Tigers began dispensing offers to 2024 recruits back in June was on hand at Death Valley for the NC State game.
Carrollwood Day (Tampa, Fla.) four-star Tavoy Feagin made the trip to Tiger Town over the weekend with his parents and little brother. He told TCI that he “really enjoyed the visit” and “how crazy the atmosphere was” stood out to him.
Feagin spent plenty of time with cornerbacks coach Mike Reed, as well as Dabo Swinney. According to Feagin, Clemson’s head coach told him that he truly feels like Feagin would be a perfect fit with the Tigers’ program.
Feagin’s father, Michael, was a defensive back at Alabama in the 1990s when Swinney was on the Crimson Tide’s coaching staff.
On Sunday, Feagin seemed to hint that Alabama shouldn’t necessarily be considered the sure bet to land his commitment just because of his dad’s ties to the Tide. Feagin tweeted, “My dad had his time, now it’s time for me to make my own decisions.”
We believe the Tigers are in a great spot with Feagin coming out of the weekend’s visit, which he told TCI “really just made Clemson even better,” adding that Clemson is “already a place I can call home and this visit really put a cherry on the top.”
Feagin told us he hopes to return to Clemson for the Miami game on Nov. 19.
He is ranked as high as the No. 73 overall prospect in the 2024 class by 247Sports.
5-star ATH very impressed by Death Valley
A five-star prospect, regarded as one of the best players in the 2024 class regardless of position, came away very impressed by the environment at Death Valley during Clemson’s 30-20 victory over NC State.
Buford (Ga.) High School athlete Khalil “KJ” Bolden (pictured above) gave Death Valley rave reviews in a comment to The Clemson Insider.
“The atmosphere was electric,” he said. “Words can’t explain how much energy was in this stadium. I’m talking before the kickoff and after the game. This has to be one of the best CFB environments to play in. Go Tigers.”
Bolden, who received an offer from Clemson back on June 1, is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the nation’s No. 1 safety and No. 4 overall prospect in the country for the 2024 class.
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