When Clemson played Alabama for the National Championship Game last month, the coaches weren’t concerned about the 2016 Class because they had the majority of the class wrapped up. In fact seven were already on campus attending classes when the Tigers left for Glendale, Ariz.

But with the loss of defensive backs Mackensie Alexander, Jayron Kearse, T.J. Green, Travis Blanks and Jefferie Gibson, those plans changed.

Clemson’s coaches had three weeks to find some depth at defensive back. They did that on Wednesday with the signatures of Trayvon Mullen, K’Von Wallace and Isaiah Simmons.

“It was a little bit more of a grind than we thought it was going to be,” Swinney said after all the National Letters of Intent were in. “We thought we would be spending more time going around and looking at juniors. But we were really grinding all the way through the finish line here.

“That is just the way it is. That’s what you have to do.”

Mullen, Wallace and Simmons, along with Fort Dorchester offensive lineman John Simpson, allowed the Tigers to finish strong and at No. 5 in Rivals’ national rankings. It marked the sixth straight year Clemson finished inside the top 15 of the national recruiting rankings, and the second year in a row in the top 5.

Mullen, 6-foot-3, 176 pounds, was ranked as the No. 2 cornerback in the country by ESPN and as the No. 18 player overall in its Top 300.

Wallace, 6-foot-1, 188-pounds, was a three-star prospect that developed into a top of the line corner during his senior of high school. Simmons (6-4, 215) was a four-star prospect out of Kansas that the Tigers started pursuing in mid-January after Gibson and Green decided to leave earlier than expected.

“Man, what a great prospect and great family coming in here. You are beaten Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska and all of those types of programs,” Swinney said. “You have not recruited him and get on him late. Well, he has taken all of these visits and he comes here and he is like ‘Wow, this is where I want to be.’ That speaks to the strength of our brand.

“Then you look at a young man like K’Von Wallace. Here is a guy to me is a lot like Marcus Gilchrist. He is very dynamic like that. Here is a kid that this summer only had James Madison and Cincinnati. That’s not a negative to those schools. That’s great for them in evaluating this kid. That was really the only offers he had. But that is a reflection of what is wrong with recruiting. With the way things happen so early now, you know what, guys still develop. Guys still go on to have great senior years and now some of the bigger programs miss out on a guy like that.”

But Clemson did not, and in fact, the Tigers did not miss out on very many as they inked 23 on National Signing Day from 10 different states – Georgia, Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, Maryland, Alabama and Virginia.

“That is the first time since 1994 we have had that many states represented in our class,” Swinney said. “Again, that speaks to the strength of our brand. People want to come see Clemson. We are not just going to load up and go to Kansas, but when you have someone that is expressing interest and they want to come see our campus … And we all know if we get them on this campus them we have a real shot.

“It was a great class and it was a lot of fun. I got a chance to go to some places that I have never been. The recruiting process always lends to a lot of great moments.”

And there definitely were some great moments for the Tigers on Wednesday.

2016 Recruiting Class

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