Garrett Riley has landed his next quarterback.

Four-star Kharim Hughley (Gainesville, GA) announced a commitment to Clemson on Thursday, choosing the Tigers over many other schools that have already offered, including South Carolina, Florida State, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech and Georgia.

Duke handed Hughley his first Power-4 offer in January, with Georgia offering a few days later. The Gamecocks and Seminoles were two of his more recent ones.

However, none was more recent than the offer from Clemson. Riley called Hughley the night of July the Fourth, with the blue-chip talent going public the next morning.

Last weekend, Hughley told The Clemson Insider that he was likely to hold off on making any kind of decision until after the coming season. At the same time, knowing he plays the most important position on the field, he also talked about the importance of not waiting too long.

For about a month, four-star Peyton Houston was Clemson’s lone target. The Tigers then also offered four-stars Trent Seaborn and Teddy Jarrard the same night Hughley got his. Four offers for one spot. And Hughley made sure to go ahead and lock it down.

Getting this done so quickly is big for Clemson. Quarterbacks tend to be the face of each class, and recruits like to know who their QB is going to be. Not to mention, now that he is on board, Hughley can get busy trying to help recruit other players, something else he told TCI he planned to do once he was committed, regardless of the school.

While Hughley might be the “lesser known” name of the four, his play on the field suggests otherwise. This kid can ball. In his first season as the full-time starter at his high school last year, he passed for 2,543 yards with 22 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

His film suggests a quarterback with a high football IQ, a lively arm, and one capable of turning negative plays into positive ones. He never stops looking downfield, and looks really good throwing on the run. Even better, he takes care of the football. Again, he only threw two picks all of last season.

Hughley was one of a handful of quarterbacks who looked the part during Dabo Swinney’s high school camp last month. While Houston, Jarrard and Seaborn, along with a few others, got a lot of the media attention, Hughley just went to work, turning in what he called his best camp performance of the summer.

This also marks the third consecutive class in which Riley locked his quarterback up fairly quickly. Last summer, Tait Reynolds committed in July. The summer before that, Blake Hebert committed in June. While he would ultimately flip to Notre Dame later in the cycle, that had nothing to do with Riley or anyone else on the coaching staff, for that matter.

It’s hard to argue against the 2027 class getting off to a much better start. Five weeks after offers started going out, the Tigers already have their quarterback and a verbal pledge from four-star linebacker Max Brown.

Now the focus can turn toward putting the right pieces around Hughley offensively, and now that he is on board, he can do his part when it comes to putting the rest of the class together.