Jacksonville Beach (Fla.) Fletcher edge-rusher Aaron Hester feels fortunate to be in the position he is in as a rising junior with a double-digit list of scholarship offers from FBS programs.

The Clemson Insider recently caught up with Hester, a rising class of 2022 prospect, about his recruitment.

“It’s been going pretty good,” he said. “I’m honored and blessed to have 11 offers from 11 really good universities.”

Clemson has offered just two defensive ends in the 2022 class to date, but defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Brent Venables are showing interest in Hester, who could play D-end or outside linebacker at the next level.

Hester has seen his recruitment start to take off over the past couple of months while collecting his first Power Five offers from Florida State, Miami, Wake Forest, Maryland, Iowa State and Kansas.

More offers figure to keep coming for Hester as he approaches and goes through his upperclassmen years of high school.

“Some schools are trying to lock onto me,” he said. “I think Tennessee and SEC schools are starting to move onto me now. But Clemson shows me a lot of love and Coach Hall, and I had Coach Venables, world famous, follow me on Twitter. That was cool.”

According to Hester, he has been communicating with Hall for about a month and is building a good relationship with him.

“I think he’s a cool guy,” Hester said. “He talks to me as a man, and I like that. He talks to me about the school and how I fit into their program, and I like him a lot.”

As a sophomore last season, Hester tallied 105 tackles, nine sacks and four pass breakups en route to all-district honors in Florida’s 7A classification.

One of the reasons the Tigers are interested in Hester is because of the high motor he brings from the edge in pursuit.

“They like my aggressiveness and the way it constantly seems like I’m in attack mode off the ball,” he said.

Meanwhile, there is a lot about Clemson’s program that appeals to Hester, who described his interest level in the Tigers as “very high.”

“Beautiful place in South Carolina,” he said. “Beautiful program, brotherhood. Coach Swinney, they graduate all their players in school and go to the championship or the playoffs every year, and you can’t beat that — the pinnacle of college football.”

The lone recruiting trip Hester has made to this point in the process is a visit to Miami when he was in the ninth grade. He named Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina and Tennessee as some of the schools he is looking to check out after the NCAA ban on in-person recruiting is eventually lifted.

“As soon as the quarantine is over and the dead period – I think it ends on August 31, if they don’t move it back – I’ll be up there,” he said of Clemson.

Hester has thought about when he wants to make his commitment and what will be important to him when he does.

“Probably the end of my junior season, probably like a month or two after that,” he said of decision timing. “But the thing that makes that decision is just where I can fit in and get a good education at, and also a place where I can win games at and be a part of a family.”

An offer from Clemson, as you might expect, would significantly impact Hester’s recruitment should he receive one in the future.

“That would be very big. That would be huge,” he said. “When Clemson talks, you have to listen, most definitely. That would be, like I said, the pinnacle. That’s huge.”

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