T.J. “Bull” Dudley and Kylon Griffin, teammates at Montgomery (Ala.) Catholic, both signed with Clemson on Wednesday.
Griffin, a three-star safety, elected to commit to Clemson last week because he wanted Dudley to have his moment. Dudley announced his decision Wednesday, as the former Oregon pledge, committed to Clemson.
We spoke with Kirk Johnson, who coached both Dudley and Griffin at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory. He took the time Tuesday afternoon to speak with The Clemson Insider regarding the two future Tigers, who both officially put pen to paper, becoming Clemson signees on NSD.
Johnson went into detail about the type of players that Dudley and Griffin are, respectively, while also revealing who they are as men on and off the field.
“T.J.’s a swell kid, man,” Johnson said. “You’re talking about a kid that plays linebacker at a very high level and he can play the piano very fluently. It’s very cool to see. He’s like my son. He never does anything without talking to me. He is always locked in. He sees the bigger picture.”
You may be asking yourself about that “Bull” moniker. Well, Dudley played running back growing up and his running style was comparable to a bull in a china shop. It stuck ever since.
He’s much more refined and detail-oriented in how he plays the linebacker position, though.
As for Griffin, the Tigers are getting an all-around football player, who Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has compared to K’Von Wallace.
“He does so much and he does it at a high level,” Johnson said of Griffin. “He’s a smart kid. He’s an awesome student-athlete, you aren’t gonna have to worry about off-the-field issues and things like that because he doesn’t have any of those.
“As far as him on the field, he’s very instinctive, very calm. The big moment is never too big for him. I’m curious to see what happens when he finally plays his true position and that’s safety. We played him at corner for so long and that’s because he could take away their best player. I’m curious what he looks like fitting into a system that’s gonna play him at his true position.”
Johnson feels that Clemson is a good fit for Griffin and indicated that if it wasn’t, he wouldn’t be going there. Griffin, of course, had other options like Nebraska and Southern Cal, but the former Mississippi State commit pledged to Clemson before he could even make his official visit to USC. Griffin wasn’t going to pass up on what the Tigers were offering him.
“I have a great relationship with my kids,” Johnson said, “and they do a good job of communicating. We have weekly talks. I knew from the get-go that that would be a good spot for him.”
“I think Clemson is a good fit for a lot of high school kids. When your head coach talks about religion and putting God first and understanding that you’re more than just a football player, that’s a place that I give my approval to.”
As far as Clemson’s recruiting approach with his players was concerned, Johnson personally didn’t think the Tigers put their best foot forward until the end. According to Johnson, Dudley wanted to commit to Clemson in the beginning, but they got a linebacker commit (Jaren Kanak) before he could.
As for Griffin, he always had a love for Clemson. They went in a different direction, but things wound up going full circle.
“Once Clemson decided that those were the kids they wanted, I think they did a pretty decent job of communicating and recruiting,” Johnson said. “They offer a lot, so it’s not really a sales pitch that you gotta come with when you’re talking about Clemson University.”
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