Swinney Scores Big Again

By Brandon Rink
SouthernPigskin.com

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Dabo Swinney is bringing in some talent to Upstate South Carolina.

It was just another ho-hum Signing Day in TigerTown.

No big last-minute pulls like last year’s last-day announcements for Clemson from five-star linebackers Stephone Anthony and Tony Steward.

In fact, no five-star rated players period from this class, but slipping under the national radar, the Tigers posted back-to-back top 10 recruiting classes for the first time since the 1980s golden era of Clemson football.

Dabo Swinney is bringing in some talent to Upstate South Carolina.

The new batch of Tigers is marked by nine four-star prospects, including three on the defensive line (Shaq Lawson, Carlos Watkins and Kevin Dodd), two defensive backs (Travis Blanks and Ronald Geohaghan) and one each from the quarterback (Chad Kelly), running back (Zac Brooks) wide receiver (Germone Hopper) and offensive line (Isaiah Battle) positions.

One reason for the quiet Signing Day was a Clemson-record eight early-enrollees, which Dabo Swinney didn’t mind at all Wednesday.

“The biggest thing with this class was the mid-years – not a lot of drama today,” Swinney said. “And I’ll take this every single year.”

Four of those early enrollees come on the offensive line, including four-star Isaiah Battle and three-star prospects Patrick DeStefano, Oliver Jones and Jay Guillermo, at a position that will have a lot of competition this spring and fall with three open starter spots.

Clemson signed four in the secondary who they believe are the future of the Tiger program. Already reportedly dubbed the “Four Horseman” , the Tigers signed four-stars Travis Blanks and Ronald Geohaghan, along with Cordrea Tankersley and Marty Williams.

“Our goal at DB was to sign a certain body type,” Swinney said. “And if you look at all four of these DBs, they’ve got length to them and are a very physical group – they can all run and these are guys that are going to bring versatility to us in the secondary.”

Clemson’s one quarterback signee Chad Kelly (6-3 208), nephew of former NFL quarterback Jim Kelly, stirred the pot last week by calling out his backup competition behind Tajh Boyd on Twitter, saying: “your on the bench for a reason.”

The conflict wasn’t quelled by the coaching staff before sophomore Tigers quarterback Cole Stoudt fired back via tweet with “I hate those that talk like their the (expletive) when they haven’t done anything yet.”

Kelly should be a fun one to watch at Clemson, on-and-off the field, but Swinney is more than happy to have him.

“He’s a very good football player – he’s got a lot of swagger,” Swinney said. “Obviously, he’s got great bloodlines. He really can run the ball and make all the throws and has a high football IQ. He’s an exciting prospect and (we’re) really fortunate he chose to be a part of our program.”

The Tigers went for and missed on a number of top running back prospects in the area, but believe they have a C.J. Spiller-esque tailback in four-star Zac Brooks (6-2 180), who was a weapon carrying and catching the ball in Arkansas for Jonesboro HS. Depending on if sophomore and former five-star running back Mike Bellamy gets back in Swinney’s good graces, Brooks could see the field early with open competition behind senior Andre Ellington.

In a stacked Clemson receiver corps, four-star Germone Hopper (6-0 165) might find a place anyway – posting 1,500 all-purpose yards and 26 touchdowns in his senior season, and over 1,800 rush and receiving yards with 23 touchdowns in his junior year at Berry Academy in Charlotte.