One of the top recruits in the Volunteer State not only picked up an offer from Clemson this week, but he’s also set his next visit to campus.
Four-star safety Jarrell Chandler (Halls) picked up the offer after assistants Ben Boulware and Thomas Allen stopped by his high school to visit with him.
Chandler has been on the Tigers’ radar for quite some time, with former safeties coach Mickey Conn establishing the relationship originally. The staff has stayed on him pretty hard since, with Chandler visiting for the season-opener against LSU.
“Coach Boulware reached out to me probably around October,” Jarrell told The Clemson Insider. “He started chatting it up with me, texting and calling. Then a couple of weeks ago, (Thomas Allen) started reaching out and calling me.”
Late last year, Boulware started to take the lead, with Allen joining the fray recently. The two assistants spent about an hour with Chandler and his high school coach after an afternoon workout, dispensing the offer at the end of the meeting.
“I was very excited. It kind of caught me off guard. I was not really expecting it,” Chandler said. “Because Clemson, I know they like to take the process slow and know what they are getting. And that was their first time coming to Halls. I kind of had it in the back of my head, but at the same time, I didn’t really have my hopes up. I was going to just let the course run through, and then I happened to be lucky enough to get it.”
While the relationship between Allen and Chandler is still in the early stages, the blue-chip talent has liked what he’s seen so far.
“I just started getting to know him, but I have been getting a pretty good vibe from him,” Chandler added. “He seems like a smart and pretty intelligent guy. Has a pretty good background and football knowledge. He kind of broke down some of their defensive scheme and coverages and stuff. He seems like a great coach. Can’t wait to build a relationship with him.”
The Tigers see Chandler as a hybrid type of defender at this point. The staff believes his 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame is potentially capable of adding enough weight to play linebacker. At the same time, they also like the physicality he brings to the safety position.
“I would say a hybrid,” Chandler said. “They think I can grow into a linebacker or play safety. They explained to me that the way the defense works is that they teach everything the same way. I could be playing safety and roll down to play WILL.”
Chandler plays both ways at the high school level. As a defender, he totaled 94 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, one interception, eight passes defended and three forced fumbles. On the offensive side, he reeled in 42 catches for 691 yards with seven touchdowns.
Rivals ranks him No. 235 overall and No. 9 in his state.
He currently has close to two dozen offers, including Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia Tech.
Chandler has now locked in plans to be at the Elite Retreat on March 7, and he is also planning to attend a junior day at Tennessee and one at Virginia Tech.
“I saw a good bit of it with the LSU game, but now that I have been offered, really getting to build the relationship with the other coaches I will be dealing with,” Chandler said. “Kind of seeing what Clemson is all about.”
Chandler also recently released a Top 10 that didn’t include Clemson. However, now that he has the offer, the Tigers have positioned themselves really well ahead of the spring.
“I would say they are up there at the top of my list, for sure,” Chandler said. “I released a Top 10 about a month or so ago, but now they have offered me, Clemson is definitely in the Top 10, probably in the Top 5 for sure.”
Photo by Bart Boatwright