The NFL and college football are heavily dominated by U.S.-born talent by default, but there’s a wave of talent from overseas making noise. 2025 four-star offensive lineman Justin Hasenhuetl is one of those with a name for themselves early in their career.

Born in Germany, Hasenhuetl wears his country on his sleeve. The Rabun Gap-Nacoochee standout told The Clemson Insider about the German pride he has.

“I’m representing my country as good as I can, and trying to show them a little bit that European player can also play ball and not just American players,” Hasenhuetl said. “Yeah, and I’m trying to get everybody a chance in Europe, to get their dream done and go to college. I would just say I’m one of the small steps that would help a little bit for some German kids to make it to college.”

His pride is evident on the field, but one of the interesting things he noticed while at Clemson is how the Tigers’ coaches remembered his name. Hasenhuetl is not a simple name to pronounce, and offensive line coach Thomas Austin had it memorized when he saw him. Austin had previously worked with him at the Dabo Swinney Camp the year before, but now had a better relationship with him in year two.

“We came to the camp and he was like ‘oh, yeah, Justin Hasenhuetl’ and I was just excited because not many people can say my name right,” Hasenhuetl said. “He was one of them and yeah, that’s given me like a focus in my head where I should go, or who’s the right person for me.”

Hasenhuetl also discussed how Austin took him under his wing and they spent time together in his office before the four-star received his Clemson offer. The relationship between coaches and the player is extremely valuable in recruiting, even more with positional coaches like Austin compared to how Dabo Swinney has a more overarching impact. With Austin and Hasenhuetl’s connection growing, the Tigers are in a great spot at this stage of his recruiting process.

We are excited to announce our second annual Dear Old Clemson event for the freshmen football class.  Come out on July 22 at 10 AM at the indoor football facility for a meet and greet autograph session with the scholarship freshmen from the 2023 class.  Clemson coordinators Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin will be attendance and speak at the event.

Get your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.