Prowl and Growl – Syndication Server

Brownell comments on new staff additions

GREENWOOD, S.C. – Clemson coach Brad Brownell had the chance to make his first public remarks on the two new assistant hires that the program announced last month. At Wednesday’s Prowl and Growl in Greenwood, The Clemson Insider asked Brownell about …

GREENWOOD, S.C. — Clemson coach Brad Brownell had the chance to make his first public remarks on the two new assistant hires that the program announced last month.

At Wednesday’s Prowl and Growl in Greenwood, The Clemson Insider asked Brownell about the additions of Billy Donlon and Sean Dixon to his coaching staff and what he identified when making those hires.

“Well, Billy Donlon is an outstanding get for me (as an) associate head coach,” Brownell said Wednesday. “But, a guy who’s been a head coach at two schools and been with me forever. I coached him in college, I’ve known him since he was 18 and he’s just a great basketball coach. He’s going to do an unbelievable job with our perimeter players.”

For Brownell, Donlon is a familiar addition to the Tigers’ bench. A coaching veteran of more than two decades, Donlon had two previous stints working as an assistant under Brownell, first at UNC-Wilmington (2002-06) before following Brownell to Wright State (2006-10). Donlon, who spent three seasons as the head coach at UMKC, took over at Wright State when Brownell was hired at Clemson following the 2009-10 season.

Donlon has also been an assistant at American, Saint Peter’s, Michigan and Northwestern.

“He and I just worked really well together,” Brownell continued. “He was an assistant at Wright State, before that he was an assistant at UNC Wilmington. We’ve had a lot of success together. I think we just fit very well together and he brings a great deal of experience at the level, having been in Northwestern and Michigan.

“I just think he’s a home run hire for us in terms of a guy that fits me, has the experience and has sat in this chair. I think that helps when you have a guy or two on your staff that’s been a head coach and understands a little bit more what the head coach is dealing with.”

As for Dixon, he played at Presbyterian, where he also got his start in coaching. Dixon, a native of Marietta, Georgia, spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Middle Tennessee State.

Before that, Dixon spent five seasons on staff at UNC-Asheville, helping the Bulldogs win the Big South tournament championship in 2016, a share of the regular-season conference title in 2017 and the outright league championship in 2018. He also served as Asheville’s recruiting coordinator.

“Sean Dixon is great,” Brownell said, “a terrific young coach. He was a very good player at Presbyterian. I really respect Sean. He’s a lot like me in that he was a guy who’s just kind of worked his way up through the business, having been a bunch of different places and helping them build a program at UNC-Asheville and really did an excellent job there at Middle Tennessee for (head coach) Nick McDevitt, where those guys have really taken over and had a really good year.

“He’s an outstanding recruiter, with a lot of ties in the Southeast. A good basketball coach and was a very good player. And then, just a really good personality, who I think will fit really well with our players.”

Staff writer Davis Potter contributed to this story.

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Thanks to new rule, Swinney will get to see summer enrollees sooner

GREENWOOD, S.C. – Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is excited to get a more complete look at his roster in the coming weeks. At Wednesday’s Prowl and Growl at the James Medford Family Event Center in Greenwood, The Clemson Insider asked Swinney if …

GREENWOOD, S.C. — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is excited to get a more complete look at his roster in the coming weeks.

At Wednesday’s Prowl and Growl at the James Medford Family Event Center in Greenwood, The Clemson Insider asked Swinney if he’s looking forward to getting to work with some of his new freshmen additions.

“The one change they made compliance-wise is we can actually get on the field with those guys for like an hour at a time,” Swinney said Wednesday. “Nobody going against each other, all individual, technique, fundamental stuff, but that’s really pretty cool because we’ve never had the opportunity to do that.

“So, to be able to go out and have a little time with some freshmen especially and get them acclimated and coach them at a slower pace, prior to camp is something that we will definitely take advantage of.”

After nine players joined Clemson as mid-year enrollees, the Tigers are set to welcome another 11 players to their roster in the coming weeks.

Dutch Fork (Irmo, S.C.) WR Antonio Williams, Lanett (Alabama) DL Caden Story, Montgomery (Alabama) Catholic LB T.J. Dudley and S Kylon Griffin, Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.) LB Wade Woodaz, Gaither (Tampa, Fla.) LB Kobe McCloud, Daniel (Central, S.C.) EDGE Jahiem Lawson, Douglas County (Douglasville, Ga.) CB Myles Oliver, Vestavia Hills (Alabama) WR Cole Turner, Greenville (S.C.) TE Josh Sapp and Pine View (Utah) RB Keith Adams, Jr. will all enroll at Clemson this summer.

“You want to get them all here and get your team complete,” Swinney said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the rule passed where we can bring the whole roster in for camp. That just makes no sense to me. They’re here all summer and they train all summer, so we can only bring 110 and the rest have to kind of wait a couple of weeks until we get school started. It is what it is from that standpoint.”

Congratulations! You did it! You graduated! Now is the time to preserve your diploma in a custom frame. Here at Clemson Variety & Frame, we build all our frames in-house – from the frame to the mats and etchings to the installation – to guarantee the quality. You worked hard for your degree. Trust us to show your diploma in the best light possible.

Catching up with Swinney in Charleston

CHARLESTON – The Clemson Insider caught up with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney at the Prowl and Growl event in Charleston Tuesday night. Swinney was asked about the recent comments from Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher, the latest on injuries and more. …

CHARLESTON — The Clemson Insider caught up with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney at the Prowl and Growl event in Charleston Tuesday night.

Swinney was asked about the recent comments from Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher, the latest on injuries and more.

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Swinney reacts to Saban-Fisher NIL spat

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – Alabama coach Nick Saban and Texas A&M head man Jimbo Fisher set the college football world ablaze last week with their verbal spat related to name, image and likeness deals for student-athletes. Saban accused A&M of buying …

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Alabama coach Nick Saban and Texas A&M head man Jimbo Fisher set the college football world ablaze last week with their verbal spat related to name, image and likeness deals for student-athletes.

Saban accused A&M of buying “every player” in its top-ranked recruiting class during the first year of the NIL era, prompting Fisher to call an impromptu press conference in response. The Aggies’ fourth-year coach unloaded on his former boss (Fisher was Saban’s offensive coordinator at LSU in the early 2000s) in denying Saban’s allegations, calling the claims “despicable” and referring to Saban him a “narcissist.”

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney weighed in on the situation when asked at Omar Shrine Temple on Tuesday as part of the athletic department’s Prowl & Growl tour whether or not the opportunity for players to make money through NIL deals could possibly lead to more public finger-pointing among coaches, though Swinney kept his comments to a minimum.

“I don’t know. I’m just focused on the Tigers,” Swinney said. “I ain’t getting involved in all that stuff. I’ve had plenty of comments on NIL. So I’m just focused on our guys and what we need to do in helping our guys be successful.”

Asked if he was surprised by two prominent coaches in his sport going at each other in such a public fashion, Swinney said he’ll let Saban and Fisher “figure all that stuff out.” Swinney has coached against both multiple times, most recently when Clemson beat A&M during the 2019 season at Memorial Stadium.

“It’s a different world,” Swinney said while surrounded by a small group of reporters. “Everything you say these days, there’s a camera, just like this. That’s about it.”

‘A neat story’: Brownell talks addition of former Big 12 pledge, brother of current Tiger

AIKEN, S.C. – From one Hunter to another, Brad Brownell is happy to have another in the fold. Brownell and his staff announced the addition of 2022 four-star point guard Dillon Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Sunrise Christian Academy) on Thursday. Hunter, the …

AIKEN, S.C. — From one Hunter to another, Brad Brownell is happy to have another in the fold.

Brownell and his staff announced the addition of 2022 four-star point guard Dillon Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Sunrise Christian Academy) on Thursday.

Hunter, the younger brother of current Tiger Chase Hunter, is ranked No. 64 in the ESPN 100 and rated a four-star prospect.

Speaking with The Clemson Insider at Thursday’s Prowl & Growl event at Aiken Technical College, Brownell had the first chance to comment publicly about the former Baylor commit, whose signing became official earlier in the day.

“Kind of a neat story really to get Dillon to come play with Chase,” Brownell said Thursday. “He’s a big guard that really has great vision and passing and distributes the ball well. I think he’ll be a good defender. We need to work with him on the shooting a little bit more, but love his size.”

Brownell emphasized that Clemson wanted to recruit positional size in the freshman class and thinks that the Tigers certainly did that.

“I think most of the guys we signed are all pretty big and long for their positions,” he said. “I think that was something that we wanted to address and certainly Dillon’s one of those guys that helps us in the backcourt.

TCI asked Brownell if he envisions Dillon being able to contribute right away.

“Yeah, I think he’ll help us some,” Brownell said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how he picks up things. As much as anything, it’s the mental part of it, especially the point guard position. The decision-making and the dealing with the pressure is the thing that you’ve got to deal with most as a young player and that’s not easy to do. But, (I’m) optimistic that he’ll be able to help us a little bit for sure.”

Dillon joins a freshman class that includes Kimball (Dallas, TX.) combo guard Chauncey Gibson, Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) forward Chauncey Wiggins and North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.) forward R.J. Godfrey.

Standing at 6-foot-4, Dillon brings some impressive height to go along with Gibson (6-6), Godfrey (6-7) and Wiggins (6-10).

“At the end of the day, we just felt like we’ve been a little smaller the last couple of years and if we could,” Brownell said, “we wanted to go out and try to find some guys that had a little more length…That was something that we certainly wanted to do to help us. I think it helps you a lot defensively, can help you with some rebounding and then just they’re gonna be young, so they’re going to take some time to develop, but I think it’s a really good class. One of our better classes.”

— Photo for this article courtesy of @dillonhunter35 on Twitter.

‘A neat story’: Brownell talks addition of former Big 12 pledge, brother of current Tiger

AIKEN, S.C. — From one Hunter to another, Brad Brownell is happy to have another in the fold.

Brownell and his staff announced the addition of 2022 four-star point guard Dillon Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Sunrise Christian Academy) on Thursday.

Hunter, the younger brother of current Tiger Chase Hunter, is ranked No. 64 in the ESPN 100 and rated a four-star prospect.

Brownell emphasized that Clemson wanted to recruit positional size in the freshman class and thinks that the Tigers certainly did that.

TCI asked Brownell if he envisions Dillon being able to contribute right away.

Standing at 6-foot-4, Dillon brings some impressive height to go along with Gibson (6-6), Godfrey (6-7) and Wiggins (6-10).

— Photo for this article courtesy of @dillonhunter35 on Twitter.

Road to Clemson has been ‘really hard’ for Galloway, but Brownell’s happy he’s a Tiger

COLUMBIA, S.C. -It’s hard to find a better match than Brevin Galloway and Clemson. Just ask Brad Brownell. During Wednesday’s Prowl and Growl tour in the Midlands, Clemson’s men’s basketball coach made his first public comments regarding the Boston …

COLUMBIA, S.C. —It’s hard to find a better match than Brevin Galloway and Clemson.

Just ask Brad Brownell.

During Wednesday’s Prowl and Growl tour in the Midlands, Clemson’s men’s basketball coach made his first public comments regarding the Boston College transfer, whose signing became official earlier in the day.

“First of all, to get a kid who’s from our area, right there in Seneca, Anderson, to want to come to Clemson and play at Clemson, I think that’s something that’s always exciting,” Brownell said Wednesday. “The kid who’s gonna bring enthusiasm and energy.”

“He’s an experienced player,” Brownell continued. “He’s played in the ACC. He’s played a bunch of 100-plus college games. He can really shoot the ball. I’d think he’d play a couple of different guard positions. He’s just a guy that you can play with a lot of different people and he brings a ton of experience. So, it’s a great addition for us.”

Speaking of playing multiple guard positions, we followed up with Brownell and asked if he envisions Galloway as someone who can bring the ball up the court.

“Yeah at times,” he said. “Yeah, absolutely. I think he can certainly do that and if we need him to help handle the ball, take pressure off our guards; I just think his basketball IQ is very good and I think that’ll really help (our) poise.”

Galloway told The Clemson Insider last month that he “couldn’t turn down the chance” to play at Clemson.

In his lone season at Boston College, he averaged 8.3 points and 1.5 rebounds while shooting just 25.6 from 3-point range.

Prior to his stint in Chestnut Hill, Galloway shot 36% from beyond the arc over four seasons at Charleston, where he was a three-year starter and averaged 15 points early in the 2020-21 season before an injury cut it short.

“It’s a unique situation,” Brownell said. “He played with (Boston College head coach) Earl (Grant) for six years off and on. It’s been really hard for Brevin. He got redshirted just as a kid coming out of high school — a little bit like we did with (redshirt freshman guard) Josh Beadle — just a guy that you want to mature a little bit, get a little bit bigger and stronger.

“Then, he had two major injuries that really sidelined his career a little bit, but bouncing back, I think he’s going to be as healthy as he’s ever been, which is exciting for us. I think it was just a situation where at this point in his career, the chance to come home was something that he was really excited about…it just seemed to work out and happy that he’s a Tiger.”

— Photo for this article courtesy of @BrevinGalloway on Twitter.

Swinney believes Goodrich ‘probably came out better’ by going undrafted

AIKEN, S.C. – Dabo Swinney was mildly surprised that Mario Goodrich didn’t hear his name called during last month’s NFL draft. Speaking with The Clemson Insider at Thursday’s Prowl & Growl event at Aiken Technical College, Clemson’s head coach said …

AIKEN, S.C. — Dabo Swinney was mildly surprised that Mario Goodrich didn’t hear his name called during last month’s NFL draft.

Speaking with The Clemson Insider at Thursday’s Prowl & Growl event at Aiken Technical College, Clemson’s head coach said that he thought somebody would draft Goodrich between the fifth and seventh rounds.

After going undrafted, the former Clemson cornerback signed a free-agent deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, which included $217K in fully guaranteed money, which is generally more than late-round draft picks receive.

“At the end of the day, he probably came out better by not getting drafted in the sixth or seventh round,” Swinney said Thursday. “He got more money…sometimes it works out better for you because again he did get to pick his station and financially, he got probably fifth-round money. At the end of the day, it’s all about making it and I think he’s well-positioned and will do fine.”

“As it turned out, it worked out great for him,” Swinney added.

Goodrich was arguably the Tigers’ best all-around corner this past season, tying for the team lead with nine pass breakups. He was third among Clemson’s defensive backs with 48 tackles and also had two interceptions, including a pick-six in the Tigers’ Cheez-It Bowl victory over Iowa State, after which he was named the game’s MVP.

Now, he’ll be joining a secondary in Philadelphia, which includes former Clemson standout, K’Von Wallace.

“Absolutely,” Swinney said when asked if Philadelphia was a good landing spot for Goodrich. “Certainly K’Von, having somebody there that knows him, that can show him the ropes a bit, certainly doesn’t hurt. I like the coach there (Nick Sirianni). I’ve talked with him a time or two.

“Again, regardless of where you go in, it’s all about making it and being able to try to have as much longevity as you can. I think Mario will take full advantage of it and they’ve shown that they’re very invested in him. So, we’ll see.”

Brownell gives injury update on PJ Hall

The Clemson Insider caught up with Clemson men’s basketball head coach Brad Brownell on Thursday evening at the Prowl & Growl event in Aiken, S.C. TCI asked Brownell what the status of the Tigers’ leading scorer last season, PJ Hall, will be this …

The Clemson Insider caught up with Clemson men’s basketball head coach Brad Brownell on Thursday evening at the Prowl & Growl event in Aiken, S.C.

TCI asked Brownell what the status of the Tigers’ leading scorer last season, PJ Hall, will be this summer.

Hall recently underwent surgery on his left foot, which caused pain that forced Clemson’s sophomore center in and out of the lineup late during this past season.

As TCI reported last month, Hall — who averaged a team-best 15.5 points despite dealing with painful flareups throughout the season — got an official diagnosis from doctors, who eventually discovered a fracture in his fourth metatarsal of his left foot.

Brownell gave an injury update on Hall at the Prowl & Growl on Thursday and said the Tigers’ big man is “going to be out for a while.”

“He’s going to be out for a while,” Brownell said. “It’s a little disappointing, because would love to have another offseason like we did with him last year where he was able to change his body and really become a high-level player. But he needed the rest.

“He’ll be out primarily until middle of July, I would expect. He may be able to do a few things, but it’s going to be a while before he can really get going and play like we need him to play. But that’s OK. He’s deserved the time off, and we just need to make sure he’s healthy when we get him back.”

It’s an injury that Hall has been dealing with since his prep days at Spartanburg’s Dorman High, but he’s hopeful that will no longer be the case once he’s fully recovered.

“(Doctors) said it’s more common than you think and that I should never have another problem with it,” Hall said.

Swinney breaks some news on Ross

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Dabo Swinney revealed some news about Justyn Ross Wednesday. At the annual Prowl and Growl tour in the Midlands, Clemson’s head coach told reporters that only four NFL teams cleared the former Tigers standout wide receiver. Swinney …

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dabo Swinney revealed some news about Justyn Ross Wednesday.

At the annual Prowl and Growl tour in the Midlands, Clemson’s head coach told reporters that only four NFL teams cleared the former Tigers standout wide receiver.

Swinney said that he expected Ross to go anywhere from the fourth round to being an undrafted free agent. Ross wound up signing an undrafted free agent deal with the Kansas City Chiefs and has already impressed his new head coach in Andy Reid.

“I’m super excited for him,” Swinney said Wednesday. “It’s a blessing and that’s what I reminded him. As it turned out, there was only four teams that cleared him. That’s a pretty small group to get drafted from. They all know that and I think the writing was on the wall that he was gonna end up being a free agent.”

“I’m really excited that the Chiefs got him,” he continued. “I’ve communicated with the Chiefs coach a couple of times. They’re excited to have him. I mean, he’s Justyn Ross. There’s no questions about Justyn Ross when it comes to playing football. There’s obvious questions when it comes to, ‘Ok, where is he health-wise?’ He broke his foot and missed some time with surgical procedures in his neck and back area.”

Ross finished his Clemson career spanning 2018-21 having recorded 158 passes for 2,379 yards with 20 touchdowns across 39 career games (24 starts). The Phenix City, Ala., native concluded his time at Clemson ranked tied for fifth in Clemson history in career receiving touchdowns, 10th in career receiving yards and 11th in career receptions. He caught a pass in 37 straight games, tied for the third-longest streak in Clemson history as of the end of the 2021 season.

“He’ll do just fine,” Swinney said. “If the good lord keeps him healthy, football will come easy for him. He might be the greatest free agent ever if he stays healthy…If he stays healthy, he belongs. The rest will take care of itself.”